4 ms·
The chemistry is kind of interesting. If you distill isopropyl alcohol, you can't get more concentrated than 91% because it forms an azeotrope. That is, if you
by kens 7y ago
The chemistry is kind of interesting. If you distill isopropyl alcohol, you can't get more concentrated than 91% because it forms an azeotrope. That is, if you try to distill 91% isopropyl alcohol, the vapors are also 91% concentration, so distillation doesn't get you any further. Thus, 91% isopropyl alcohol is a common product. Similarly, ethanol forms an azeotrope at 95% concentration, so you can't distill higher than that. This is why, for instance, Everclear has a 95% alcohol concentration. (You can produce higher concentrations, of course, but it requires a more expensive process than distillation.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeotrope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeotrope