Student Resource Sheet 1

SEPARATING MIXTURES
Mixtures are not unique to chemistry; we use and consume them on a daily basis.
The beverages we drink each morning, the fuel we use in our automobiles, and
the ground we walk on are mixtures. Very few materials we encounter are pure.
Any material made up of two or more substances that are not chemically
combined is a mixture.
The isolation of pure components of a mixture requires the separation of one
component from another. Chemists have developed techniques for doing this. These methods
take advantage of the differences in physical properties of the components. Mixtures are all able
to be separated by using physical properties. No chemical changes are involved, so the
substances will retain their chemical identity throughout the separation process.
The method used to separate the components of a mixture depends on the physical properties of
the components. Since substances have different physical properties, different mixtures require
different methods to separate them. Some methods are more effective than other methods.
Magnetism
If one component of the mixture has magnetic properties, you could use a
magnet to separate the mixture. Iron, nickel, and cobalt are all materials that
are magnetic.

Hand Separation
You can separate the components of a dry mixture by manually picking out each
component. This is most effective when the substances to be separated are large
enough to be seen clearly. For example, the parts of a salad can easily be
separated using your fork.
Filtration
Sometimes you will need to separate solid matter from a liquid. In the process of
filtration, the mixture is passed through a porous material. This separates the non
soluble solid from the liquid. Filters range widely in sophistication. Common
ordinary filter paper (as might be used in a coffee maker) is inexpensive. Cloth and
sand are also inexpensive materials that can act as a filter. However, the filter used
in an oil filter for a car costs a bit more and so on. These materials allow the liquid to pass
through but not the solid. You use this process when you strain spaghetti or make coffee. The
spaghetti remains in the colander while the water continues through and coffee grounds are
caught by a coffee filter while the water can pass through.
Sifting (Sieving)

You can separate a dry mixture containing substances of different sizes by

sifting. In this process, materials of different sizes are passed through a
sieve, a device containing tiny holes. Smaller grains pass through the holes
leaving the larger-sized solids behind. A sieve is a common beach toy.
You can scoop up sand and shake it side to side. The larger pebbles and
shells are left in the sieve while the smaller sand grains pass through.
Sieves can come in many different sizes.
Extraction and Evaporation
In the process of extraction a soluble solid like salt and be separated from an
insoluble solid like sand. You could try to manually separate the sand and salt
using a magnifying glass and tweezers, but is there an easier way? Is there some
property that salt has that sand does not? Salt dissolves in water and sand does not!
In extraction a solvent is used to selectively dissolve one component of the solid
mixture. For example, mix the sand/salt with water. The salt dissolves, the sand
does not. When this mixture is then poured through a filter, the sand is separated
from the salt water.
How could you separate the salt from the water? The answer is evaporation. Changing a liquid
into a gas can often separate liquid mixtures. This can be done by natural evaporation or by
boiling the liquid mixture. When the saltwater is heated, the water evaporates leaving the salt
behind.
Chromatography
You can separate numerous dissolved substances in a solution using
chromatography. For example, paper chromatography can be used to separate an ink
solution. In this case, ink from a felt-tip pen is dissolved in alcohol. A tiny dot of
ink is placed at the bottom of a piece of absorbent filter paper. The very end of the
filter paper is then placed into the alcohol. The alcohol soaks into the absorbent
filter paper carrying the ink with it. Colored ink is a mixture of several pigments
which bind to the paper to different extents. Those pigments that hold loosely move
quickly up the paper compared to those that hold more firmly. This results in the
separation of different pigments on the filter paper.

Chart 1
SEPARATION METHODS
Method
Magnetism

Description

Example

Hand Separation

Filtration
A
C83

Sifting/Sieving

Extraction

Evaporation

Chromatography

St
ud
en
t
Re
so
ur
ce
Sh
eet
A
C
-9