Answer:
a. 4
Explanation:
The number of theoretical plates is the number of discrete distillations that would have to be performed to obtain an equivalent separation of a discrete plate. This number is commonly used as a measure of separation efficiency and is a useful when comparing the performance of various chromatographic columns.
One theoretical plate is equivalent to one vaporization-condensation cycle, which is equivalent to one simple distillation. Thus a fractionation column that can attain the equivalent of three simple distillations would be said to have three theoretical plates.
Distillation is the purification method of liquid substances by boiling and condensation process. The theoretical plates obtained overall will be 4.
Theoretical plates are the single event of the vaporization-condensation in the process of distillation. It depicts the number of discrete distillations performed to get the number of the separate discrete plate.
This number is used to estimate the efficiency of the separation and can be used for the comparative analysis of the chromatographic columns.
The single vaporization-condensation cycle is equivalent to one theoretical plate or one cycle of simple distillation. Hence, a fractionation column that can reach the equal of three distillations will have three theoretical plates.
Therefore, option a. 4 is the number of the theoretical plates.
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