Examples of Mixture Separation

Page 1

Table Salt and Sand

1. Add water to the mixture.

The salt will dissolve in the water but the sand is insoluble.

Heat the water and stir to speed up the dissolution and increasing saltwater yield.

2. Filter the mixture through filter paper

The saltwater will pass through the filter but the sand will not.

3. Evaporate the remaining saltwater to crystalise the salt for extraction

The water will evaporate, leaving behind just solid crystals of salt

A slower evaporation will produce larger crystals

Page 2

Petrol and Ethanol

1. Stir water into the mixture

Water is highly miscible in ethanol

2. Allow the water and ethanol to settle at the bottom of the tank/beaker

3. Pour out the ethanol and water mixture, leaving behind just the petrol

4. Use fractional distillation to evaporate the ethanol from the water

Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water so it will boil and be condensed in a fractionating column first.