Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyNoble Gases: Isolation, Electronic Structure, and Uses

Liquid air undergoes fractional distillation to isolate noble gases and other atmospheric components. Based on their boiling points, in which sequence are nitrogen, argon, and oxygen collected as vapors from first to last?

  1. Nitrogen, Argon, OxygenAnswer
  2. B
    Oxygen, Argon, Nitrogen
  3. C
    Argon, Nitrogen, Oxygen
  4. D
    Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon

Answer

Nitrogen, Argon, Oxygen
During the fractional distillation of liquid air, components boil off in order of increasing boiling points (most volatile to least volatile). Nitrogen has the lowest boiling point (−196∘C-196^\circ\text{C}), followed by Argon (−186∘C-186^\circ\text{C}), and finally Oxygen (−183∘C-183^\circ\text{C}). Thus, the collection sequence is Nitrogen, Argon, Oxygen.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the boiling points of the three components in liquid air
Nitrogen (N2N_2) = −196∘C-196^\circ\text{C}, Argon (ArAr) = −186∘C-186^\circ\text{C}, Oxygen (O2O_2) = −183∘C-183^\circ\text{C}
Fractional distillation separates liquefied gases based on differences in their boiling points.
2
Arrange the gases in increasing order of boiling points (from most volatile to least volatile)
−196∘C<−186∘C<−183∘C-196^\circ\text{C} < -186^\circ\text{C} < -183^\circ\text{C}, corresponding to Nitrogen →\rightarrow Argon →\rightarrow Oxygen
The substance with the lowest boiling point vaporizes and boils off first during distillation.

Key Concept

Isolation of noble gases from liquid air by fractional distillation
Rate this question

Topics

Noble Gases: Isolation, Electronic Structure, and Uses

More questions from this topic