Question

Question #cd9d1

Answer 1

The easiest way is to take advantage of phase changes (solid-liquid-gas) that take place at different temperatures for different substances.

Water and acetone form a homogeneous mixture that can be separated at high temperatures by distillation because the vapor phase above the mixture is more concentrated in acetone than the liquid phase because acetone has a higher vapor pressure than water.

Alternatively, acetone and water can be separated at low temperature by recrystallization because the water component will freeze to ice around `0^circ C` whereas the freezing point of acetone is around `-95^circC`.