Secondary I • 2yr.
Hello,
Soon, I'll have an exam on all the labs that we did this year, but I was absent during the lab in which we did decantation. Could you tell me how to proceed?
Hello,
Soon, I'll have an exam on all the labs that we did this year, but I was absent during the lab in which we did decantation. Could you tell me how to proceed?
Explanation from Alloprof
This Explanation was submitted by a member of the Alloprof team.
Hello,
Thank you for your question!
It will be my pleasure to help you with this technique 😊
Decantation is a technique used to separate immiscible substances. In other words, it allows the separation of substances that are not mixable when at least one of them is liquid.
In order to separate the constituents with that technique, we use gravity. Two techniques exist; the decantation using a steel rod or the decantation through a funnel.
The first technique is used, for instance, for mixes made of sand and water. To proceed, we need to pour the liquid part of the mix on a glass rod held on top of an empty baker.
The second technique may be used when dealing with mixtures such as water and oil. To perform the second type of decantation, universal support, a metal ring, a funnel, and an empty beaker is required. Once everything is in place, we must pour the mix into the funnel. Then, we close the funnel's cap. We wait until a separation line between the constituents appears, and we remove the cap. Then, we slowly open the funnel valve until both liquids are separated.
Do not be shy to ask us if you have any other questions!
Good luck!