What is the general purpose of a condenser in a distillation setup?

• A. To condense steam back into liquid water
• B. To heat the mixture
• C. To measure volume
• D. To filter solids

Answer: (A)

The condenser’s job in distillation is to turn the vapor back into a liquid so it can be collected as the distillate. When the mixture is heated, the component with the lower boiling point becomes vapor and rises into the condenser. There, a cooling flow lowers the vapor’s energy and it condenses into liquid, which drips into a receiving flask. This prevents loss of product as vapor and helps separate components by their boiling points. It isn’t used to heat the mixture, measure volume, or filter solids.