ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 45, Number 5
JKCSEZ 45(5)
October 20, 2001 

The purpose of this study was to find out the problems on the fractional distillation experiments in the middle school science textbooks based on the 6th curriculum and to suggest an efficient experiment method for the middle school students. The first step was the classification of the experiments in 8 science textbooks according to heating apparatus and liquid mixtures. The second step was doing each experiment 3 times followed by the experimental process in the textbooks. The third step was developing the alternative experiments for solving the problems found in the second step. The heating method used in the alternative experiments were direct heating, oil bath, and heating mantle. The results of the second step showed that the direct heating experiment of branched round flask was more close to the theoretical prediction than the experiment of water bath heating of branched test tube. Also the direct heating experiment of thermally insulated branched round flask was better than the result of the experiment which was not insulated. The results of the third step showed that the experiment using heating mantle regulated heating power by observing the temperature of distillate gave the closest result to the theoretical prediction. From the above results, it is concluded that the experiment using branched test-tube with water bath heating is not adequate for the fractional distillation and an alternative experiment using insulated branched round flask with heating mantle regulated heating power during experiment is recommended.