Question

Describe the circumstances in which the following processes could be used to separate the components of a mixture: evaporation of a solvent from a solution

Answer 1

Evaporation of a solvent at a very slow rate can be used to separate components of a mixture. The process is a type of stepwise crystallization and isolation. The solvent is slowly evaporated at constant temperature, the least soluble components starts to come off of solution, which is then separated. The process is repeated for isolation of other components of mixture until only the most soluble component remains in solution in dissolved form. At this point complete removal of solvent would yield the most soluble component. Thus evaporation of solvent from a solution containing mixture of components can be employed for separation of individual components.