Distillation

Distillation is used to refine metals that are themselves LOW-BOILING and VOLATILE -- the two examples given are zinc (boiling point 1180 K) and mercury (boiling point 630 K). The impure metal is heated until it evaporates; because the metal itself is far more volatile than its impurities, the vapours consist essentially of the pure metal alone, and these vapours are then condensed elsewhere in the apparatus to recover the metal in …