Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation

What is Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation?

Within Chemistry, which covers atoms, bonding, reactions, the periodic table, organic chemistry and the chemistry of everyday life, this topic explains Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation. Chemistry links what you can see in the lab to the particles and bonds behind it, so each topic here shows that link in a model.

Check that you can explain Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.

Understanding Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation helps you explain why substances behave as they do, from cleaning products and food to medicines.

Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation in detail

Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons formed over millions of years from the remains of marine organisms. Fractional distillation separates it into fractions with similar boiling points. The oil is heated and the vapour rises up a column that is hotter at the bottom and cooler at the top.

Fractions with small molecules and low boiling points (petrol gases, naphtha) leave at the top, and those with large molecules and high boiling points (bitumen) are drawn off at the bottom. Smaller molecules are less viscous, more flammable and burn more cleanly. The fractions are fuels or raw materials for the chemical industry.

How the interactive helps you understand Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation

Click a step, or use the Previous and Next buttons, to move through the sequence one stage at a time. Auto-play moves on for you.

Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation.

Real-life uses and examples

• Explain Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation in an exam by linking the particles involved to what you observe.
• Use Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation to explain what happens in a lab experiment and why.
• Link Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation to everyday products such as cleaning agents, food and medicines.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mixing up the names of substances or ions when you describe Crude Oil and Fractional Distillation.
• Describing what happens without explaining the particles or bonds involved.
• Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.