Organic compound separation – distillation, extraction, and TLC

ChemistryOrganic ChemistryAges 16–17

Three familiar techniques in a single simulation. Distillation: heat a liquid mixture and the thermometer holds steady at the boiling point of the more volatile component, while vapor condenses in the condenser and drips into the receiving flask. Extraction: shake the separating funnel so the solute moves from the aqueous layer into the organic solvent layer according to the partition coefficient, then open the stopcock to separate the layers. Thin-layer chromatography: solvent rises up the plate and carries the colored spots at different speeds depending on their polarity, and the simulation instantly calculates the retention factor Rf.