Separation of Components of a Mixture

A mixture is composed of two or more types of substances that can be present in varying amounts. It can be physically separated by using methods that use physical properties to separate the components of the mixture, such as evaporation, distillation, filtration and chromatography.

The main aim of this experiment is to separate components from the mixture. The mixture of sand, common salt, and ammonium chloride is a heterogeneous solid mixture, and its components can be separated easily by physical methods of separation.

We need to follow the correct order of methods of separation to separate the three substances:

Ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) sublimes on heating the mixture and gets separated.
Sand is insoluble in water. The filtration of the solution of sand and common salt leaves behind the sand as residue.
Common salt can be recovered by evaporation of its aqueous solution

Experiment Procedure

The steps to be followed to perform this experiment are as follows:

Take the mixture of ammonium chloride, sand and common salt in a china dish.
Set up a sublimation apparatus and heat the mixture.
Ammonium chloride will sublime and get deposited on the walls of the inverted funnel.
The residue in the china dish contains sand and common salt.
Dissolve this residue mixture in water. Common salt will dissolve, but sand will not.
Filter the sand from the mixture using filter paper.
Sand is separated as a residue, and the filtrate is a salt solution.
Heat the filtrate (salt solution) to evaporate the water and get a dry sample of common salt.

In this experiment, we learned how to separate the components of a mixture of sand, common salt and ammonium chloride.

Ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) sublimes on heating the mixture and gets separated.
Common salt dissolves in water, while sand does not.
The insoluble sand can be obtained as residue on filtering the solution.
The salt solution is obtained as the clear filtrate. We can obtain back the salt by evaporation.

FAQs on Separation of Mixture Components

Q: What are the best methods that can be used to separate naphthalene from a mixture of sand and naphthalene?

Answer: Sublimation. A mixture of naphthalene and sand is a heterogeneous mixture of two solids. Naphthalene is a volatile solid, which sublimes on heating. Hence, sublimation can be used to separate naphthalene from the given mixture.

Q: Insoluble fine impurities such as sand can be separated from water using the process of _____________.

Answer: Filtration. Insoluble fine impurities remain suspended in the solution. Such a solution can be passed through a filter paper to obtain a clear liquid. The filter paper doesn’t allow the suspended particles to pass through it. This process is called filtration.

Q. How will you separate sand from a mixture of sulphur and sand?

Answer: We can add the mixture into Carbon disulphide as the solvent. Sulphur will dissolve in the solvent. Then, the insoluble sand can be separated using filtration.

Q. What are the two processes in distillation?

Answer: Distillation is a two-step process that includes distillation and condensation reflux. The liquid boils at a high temperature, converts into gas, and then condenses. The gas-liquid two-phase flow over the countercurrent contact is commonly carried out in a distillation column.

Q. How can aniline and chloroform be separated?

Answer: The distillation technique can be used to separate aniline and chloroform due to the greater difference in boiling point. The aniline has the formula C₆H₅NH₂. The organic compound chloroform has the formula CHCl₃.