Fractional distillation is a special type of distillation designed to separate a mixture of two or more liquids that have different boiling points.
Imagine you're trying to sort out different types of coins - pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters - each with slightly different sizes (boiling points). You use a coin sorter (fractionating column) which separates them based on their size.
Fractionating Column: A tube filled with glass beads or plates designed to increase surface area for repeated condensation and evaporation during fractional distillation.
Condensation: The change of state from gas to liquid; occurs when gas particles lose energy.
Evaporation: The change of state from liquid to gas; occurs when liquid particles gain enough energy.
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