What is one procedure, other than electrophoresis, that is used in the laboratory to separate the different types of molecules in a liquid mixture?
1 Answer
Explanation:
Given differential boiling points, certainly fractional distillation can separate, fractionate, the different components of a liquid mixture. When a refinery distils crude oil, it heats up the crude, and the more volatile material makes it farther up the tower than the involatile stuff, the tars and bitumen etc.
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At the top of the column, the most volatile components come off, the hexanes, and the heptanes, ready to put in your motor. A fractionating tower in an oil-refinery may be 20-50 metres high, and they must really blast the bottom of the tower to get the distillate over. In the laboratory we use columns at most only 20-30 cm high, and the separating efficiency is impaired.
Given that the distillates are highly flammable, I imagine that safety considerations loom large in the minds of the engineers who conduct these operations.
