Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
fractional distillation

fractional distillation

5.5
A process that separates a liquid mixture into parts by heating and cooling using their different boiling points
  • noun
  • /ˈfrækʃənl dɪsˌtɪlˈeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : destilación fraccionada
  • During the fractional distillation process, the different mixtures vaporize at various temperatures, enabling their separation.

Examples

  • It is obtained by liquefaction of air and separated from the other gases by fractional distillation.

  • And that is just one of the many, many properties discovered from the substances which are extracted from the fractional distillation of coal tar.

  • The oil company employed fractional distillation to refine crude oil into usable fuels like gasoline and diesel.

Synonyms

distillation
vsfractional distillation
  • Specialized
1 5.9

Heating a liquid to make steam and cooling the steam to get pure liquid

is aimed at separating mixed liquids using boiling point differences
fractionation
vsfractional distillation
  • Specialized
1 9.3

To separate a mixture into parts using heat or chemicals

is limited to using heat and boiling point differences for liquid mixtures
fractional process
vsfractional distillation
  • Specialized
7.9

A method that heats a mixture to separate parts by their boiling points

is the same but targets mixtures of different liquids into separate parts
distillment
vsfractional distillation
  • Archaic
8.5

To purify a liquid by boiling it and collecting the steam that turns back into liquid

is concentrated on splitting liquid mixtures into parts by boiling point

Surface Forms

fractional distillation singular
fractional distillations plural

Morphology

fractional + distillation

The compound is a straightforward modifier+noun composition: 'distillation' (the process of vaporizing and condensing a liquid) qualified by 'fractional' (relating to fractions or parts), so it literally denotes a distillation that separates into parts. This compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically similar, so a B1 learner who knows both words would be able to infer the general meaning (even if they lack technical details).

Etymology

Fractional distillation gets its name from its parts: fractional meaning small 'fractions' or parts and distillation meaning heating to make steam and catch it. Imagine boiling a liquid mix so different parts turn to steam at different times and are collected one by one as separate 'fractions'. That's why fractional distillation means 'separating a liquid mixture into parts by heating'.