“Distillation” is a separation process widely used for various applications, primarily to separate components of a liquid mixture based on differences in their volatility, or the ease with which they vaporize. The process involves heating a liquid to create vapor and then cooling that vapor to create a liquid—the distillate—with a higher concentration of the desired component.

Distillation has a wide range of applications, including the production of alcoholic beverages, essential oils, and chemicals. It is also a crucial step in the refining of crude oil to separate its various components based on their boiling points.