Fractional distillation

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Fractional distillation

Fractional distillation differs from distillation only in that it separates a mixture into a number of different parts, called fractions. A tall column is fitted above the mixture, with several condensers coming off at different heights. The column is hot at the bottom and cool at the top. The substances are heated and evaporate. Substances with high boiling points condense at the bottom and substances with low boiling points condense at the top. Like fractional distillation works because the different substances in the mixture have different boiling points and therefore, they are sorted into different fractions.