Question

Why distillation is a chemical reaction?
(A) Formation of products occur
(B) Change in state of reactants
(C) Both A and B
(D) Distillation is not a chemical reaction.

Answer 1

Hint: Distillation is a physical separation process. It is used to separate a mixture of substances by heating a liquid that undergoes a phase change; from liquid to gas. There is no involvement of reactants or products in the whole process.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Distillation refers to the selective boiling of a liquid mixture and subsequent condensation of a component in that mixture. It is a separation technique that can be used to either increase the concentration of a particular component in the mixture or to obtain pure components from the mixture. The process of distillation explains the difference in the boiling points of the components in the liquid mixture by transforming one of them into a gaseous state.
Distillation is not a chemical reaction but it can be considered as a physical separation process. Physical changes include the changes of state: solid to liquid, fusion; liquid to gas, vaporization; gas to solid, deposition. No chemical bonds are damaged in this process, other than the weak dispersion forces between molecules.

While a chemical reaction is a process in which reactants are converted into products by either bond-breaking or bond-making. As no such step occurs in the process of distillation, it is not a chemical reaction. Thus, no product is formed and no change in the state of reaction occurs.

Hence the correct option is (D).

Note: Distillation is a powerful technique used for separating the component from a miscible fluid mixture by means of selective evaporation and condensation. It is a purification method that involves boiling a liquid and purifying it by different types of distillation processes.