Fractional Distillation of Crude Oil Flashcards
What is crude oil?
A fossil fuel
How is crude oil formed?
It is formed over millions of years from the buried remains of plants and animals
What is crude oil a mixture of?
Hydrocarbons
What atoms are hydrocarbon molecules made up of?
Carbon and Hydrogen atoms
Because it is a mixture of different compounds, the hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil aren’t chemically bonded to one another. What does this mean?
They all keep their original properties such as their condensing points.
How can crude oil be split up into its separate parts?
By Fractional Distillation.
How does fractional distillation work?
The heated crude oil is piped in at the bottom
The oil evaporates and rises up
The fractions are constantly collected at the different levels where they condense
