Question

Compare evaporation, crystallization and distillation. In which situation, would you prefer each of these over the others?

Answer 1

Method	Process	What you get	Best situation
Evaporation	Heat the solution until the solvent evaporates.	Solid solute	Suitable when only the solid is needed and the solvent is not required (e.g., extracting salt from seawater).
Crystallisation	Make a hot saturated solution and allow it to cool gradually so crystals form.	Pure solid crystals	Used when a pure solid is required (e.g., producing copper sulfate crystals).
Distillation	Heat the mixture until the liquid boils, then cool the vapour to condense it.	Pure liquid (and residue left behind)	Best when the solvent needs to be recovered or when separating miscible liquids with different boiling points (e.g., obtaining water from a salt solution).