Separation of Mixtures and Solids
Lab 2: Separation of Mixtures and Solids
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to become familiar with the separations of mixtures and solids.
Pre-lab predictions:
Data: Data Table 1: Experiment Data | | Grams | Percentage of Mixture | Iron Filings | 2.0g | 26.67% | Sand | 1.6g | 21.33% | Table Salt | 2.4g | 32.00% | Benzoic Acid | 1.2g | 16.00% | Total | 7.5g | 96% |
Observations: While the water was boiling with the three solids (salt, benzoic acid, and sand) the water got very thick when trying to dissolve the benzoic acid, making it harder to pour out all the non-sand particles. Getting everything separated was much harder to do than expected because things like salt like to stick to the bottom of cups.
Conclusion: This lab experiment concluded that physical properties are instrumental in separating solids and liquids that are mixed. The physical property of magnetic pull proved very effective in separating out the iron filings at first, and from there, the solubility factor was everything. The fact that the salt and acid both dissolved but the sand didn’t made separating out the sand much easier. The tricky part was separating out the acid and the salt because both were soluble, but given that the properties of the acid were to expand in water and the properties of salt were to dissolve completely, separating by a funnel and filter was a very appropriate method. The uncertainty of what was actually in each substance is not a huge deal because of all the precautions taken to avoid it, but getting rid of it entirely is nearly impossible. This lab, however, brought up some questioning when reaching the part where letting the water evaporate and letting the mixture sit: why is it that one cannot boil it or heat it up instead? Does that trigger other properties to reduce or increase mass?
Questions:
A. How did your proposed procedures or flow charts at the beginning of the experiment compare to the actual procedures of this lab
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to become familiar with the separations of mixtures and solids.
Pre-lab predictions:
Data: Data Table 1: Experiment Data | | Grams | Percentage of Mixture | Iron Filings | 2.0g | 26.67% | Sand | 1.6g | 21.33% | Table Salt | 2.4g | 32.00% | Benzoic Acid | 1.2g | 16.00% | Total | 7.5g | 96% |
Observations: While the water was boiling with the three solids (salt, benzoic acid, and sand) the water got very thick when trying to dissolve the benzoic acid, making it harder to pour out all the non-sand particles. Getting everything separated was much harder to do than expected because things like salt like to stick to the bottom of cups.
Conclusion: This lab experiment concluded that physical properties are instrumental in separating solids and liquids that are mixed. The physical property of magnetic pull proved very effective in separating out the iron filings at first, and from there, the solubility factor was everything. The fact that the salt and acid both dissolved but the sand didn’t made separating out the sand much easier. The tricky part was separating out the acid and the salt because both were soluble, but given that the properties of the acid were to expand in water and the properties of salt were to dissolve completely, separating by a funnel and filter was a very appropriate method. The uncertainty of what was actually in each substance is not a huge deal because of all the precautions taken to avoid it, but getting rid of it entirely is nearly impossible. This lab, however, brought up some questioning when reaching the part where letting the water evaporate and letting the mixture sit: why is it that one cannot boil it or heat it up instead? Does that trigger other properties to reduce or increase mass?
Questions:
A. How did your proposed procedures or flow charts at the beginning of the experiment compare to the actual procedures of this lab