Aim
The aim of this experiment was to obtain a pure product from a solution through the processes o extraction, filtering and evaporation.
Introduction
Extraction is used when trying to separate or purify a product. For an extraction to be successful the substance used to make the solvent should readily dissolve. The substance used in this practical was rock salt. The liquid used should not react with the substance that needs extracting. In laboratories extracting is used by chemists to purify samples and also analyse unknown samples. However, in the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists rely on this technique to collect information about chemical properties of a compound that they are researching. They then use this information to pass on to professionals who are working in developing compounds and investigating the effects of these compounds on the human body.
Additionally, environmental remediation projects (services which remove environmental problems such as removing any contaminants found in ground water or sterilising an area where there has been an oil spill) use an extractor to separate any contaminants.
In our experiment we used the technique of extraction to test the purity of the substance. Purity is when a substance is free from contamination. It is important for a substance to be pure so that chemists can study its properties. The purity of a substance is vital in the production of food and drugs; the government has set daily guidelines of how much of a substance can be consumed. Any impurities which are found in a drug or medicine can reduce the effectiveness. There are many ways of determining whether a product is pure or not, for example: filtration, crystallization, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, chromatography, electrophoresis, immunochemical reactions, ultracentrifugation and titration. The method used in this experiment was