Question

Camphor can easily be purified by the process of
A.Sublimation
B.Distillation
C.Crystallization
D.Sedimentation

Answer 1

Hint: You might have used camphor during a pyre ignition. Go through all these options and try to recall their definition. You can use the elimination method as well if you know at least three of the processes mentioned in the question.

Complete answer:
Camphor is a waxy, flammable, transparent solid with a strong aroma. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula \[{C_6}{H_{10}}O\]. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel. Camphor oil is the oil extracted from its wood and processed by steam distillation.
Camphor has many uses like treating pain, warts, and cold sores, to increase local blood flow. Camphor is used as an analgesic and anesthetic as well. You all must have used Vicks, camphor is used in this product.
Now let us explore all the options given in the question.
Distillation is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation. Dry distillation is the process of heating solid materials to produce gaseous products.
As we have learned earlier camphor is an inflammable substance therefore we cannot purify it with the distillation process.
Crystallization is the process by which solid forms, where atoms or molecules are highly organised into a structure known as crystals. Some of the ways of crystals formation is precipitation, freezing or more rarely deposition directly from a gas.
Camphor is itself a form of crystal therefore crystallization method cannot be applied to it for its purification.
Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of fluid in which they are suspended and come to rest against a barrier.
Again we cannot apply this process as it is a waxy substance.
Now let’s look at the last process which is sublimation. It is the process of conversion between a solid and the gaseous phases of matter with no intermediate liquid stage.
Since camphor converts directly into its gaseous state without converting into liquid state, therefore we use a sublimation process to purify it from substances like \[Sodium{\text{ }}Chloride\] .
Therefore the correct answer is option A.

Note:
Some of the real examples of sublimation are dry ice that you might have seen in entertainment fields to create dramatic effects, naphthalene or moth balls when used during storing clothes also undergo sublimation.