Secondary I • 2yr.
How do you choose the correct mixture separation technique?
How do you choose the correct mixture separation technique?
Explanation from Alloprof
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The correct technique for separating mixtures depends on the constraints of each technique:
• Evaporation requires a liquid that can evaporate and a solid dissolved in this liquid, such as water and salt
• Settling requires two substances that do not have the same density and do not mix, such as water and oil.
• Filtration requires a liquid that can pass through a filter and a solid that can not, such as sand and water
• Distillation requires two liquids or one liquid and one solid that have two sufficiently different boiling points so that they may separate easily, such as water and ethanol, or water and sand
• Sifting requires solids whose particles are not the same size in order to remain trapped in sieves of different sizes, such as fine sand and rocks
• Centrifugation requires substances whose density is different enough that they separate into layers, like blood
• Chromatography requires substances that migrate at different speeds in a solvent, such as food coloring in water
• Chemical separation techniques require specific substances with known reactions
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