Video Transcript
Scientists and engineers use an oil
distillation column to separate the different components of crude oil. They use the column to separate
liquids, like kerosene, from other liquids, like diesel oil. The figure shows the structure of a
fractionating column. Which numbered box represents the
part of the column with the highest temperature?
Crude oil is made up of many
different components, like gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, and fuel oil. These components are separated
using a fractionating or distilling column. Before the crude oil enters the
fractionating column, it first passes through a furnace. The crude oil boils as it passes
through the furnace, transforming it from a liquid into a gas. The gas then passes into the
fractionating column. The components of the crude oil can
then be separated according to their boiling point.
Boiling point is the temperature at
which matter begins to change from the liquid to the gas state. The boiling point of a liquid is
also the temperature at which the substance in the gas state condenses into the
liquid state. The fractionating column is hottest
at the bottom and coolest at the top. When a component reaches a height
in the column equal to its boiling point, it condenses from a gas into a liquid,
which can then be collected.
Of the components shown, fuel oil
has the highest boiling point and gasoline has the lowest boiling point. So fuel oil condenses near the
bottom of the fractionating column, where the temperature is higher, and gasoline
condenses near the top of the column, where the temperature is much lower.
In conclusion, the numbered box
that represents the part of the column with the highest temperature is box number
one.
