EXPERIMENT 4:

SEPARATION OF A MIXTURE
Introduction: This experiment separates a mixture using the physical property of solubility.
You will learn decantation and filtration, and will use a Bunsen burner to evaporate a liquid.
You will use the Law of Conservation of Mass to check your accuracy
Background: Mixtures are combinations of substances in which the components keep their
individual characteristics, can be mixed in variable proportions and can be separated by simple
physical means. Contrast this with the composition of compounds that are inseparable by
physical changes.
Some of a mixture’s components have physical properties like melting point, boiling point, or
solubility that allow us to selectively remove one component from the mixture. Then the
percentage of each component in the original mixture can be calculated.
Example: A student has a mixture of NaCl(s) and I2(s) weighing 2.75 grams. She heats the
mixture, which turns the solid iodine into a purple gas. The salt remains as a solid. After cooling
the salt, it weighs 1.59 g. To find the mass of iodine in the original sample, the student assumes
that the difference in mass of the mixture and the salt is the mass of the iodine originally present.
Thus: (2.75 g mixture – 1.59 g salt) = 1.16 g iodine
The percent of iodine in the mixture:
(1.16 g iodine / 2.75 g mixture) x 100 = 42.2% iodine in this mixture.
To find the percent of salt in the mixture:
(1.59 g salt / 2.75 g mixture) x 100 = 57.8% salt in the mixture,
Materials
Chemicals: Equipment: Bunsen burner
A mixture of sand and salt Ceramic evaporating dish, stirring rod, wire gauze
Deionized water/wash bottle Plastic funnel fitted with filter paper, iron ring
0.1M AgNO3 solution in dropper bottle 250-mL beaker, watch glass, beaker tongs

Procedure: WEAR YOUR GOGGLES! Weigh a clean dry evaporating dish to the
nearest 0.01gram. Also weigh a clean dry 250 mL beaker. Record the code # of the
sand/salt mix you are using. Weigh a 1.5 to 3 g mixture sample in the evaporating dish.
All weighings should be to two decimal places.
Add about 20 to 25 mL of
deionized water to the mixture in your
evaporating dish and stir with
the stirring rod. Set up your funnel in a clay
triangle on a tripod or iron ring over the beaker
and fit a piece of folded filter paper into the
funnel. Wet the paper with a little deionized
water and set the funnel with filter paper in a
clay triangle mounted on an iron ring attached to
a ring stand or a tripod.

Los Angeles City College Chemistry 60

 Decant the liquid from the evaporating dish into the filter and funnel (leaving the sand in
the evaporating dish) and collect the “ filtrate “ (the liquid that passed through the filter) in the
beaker. Add 20 mL of water to the evaporating dish, decant & filter. Repeat once more. Then,
set aside the evaporating dish. (CAREFUL! Don’t spill out the sand that remains in the dish.)
Squirt some water (just a few milliliters!) from your wash bottle over the filter paper and let this
drain into the beaker. Rinse the filter with small portions of water three times. Test the filtrate
as follows.
Catch a few drops of the liquid dripping out of the funnel in a small test tube. Add 1-2 drops
of 0.1M AgNO3 solution to the filtrate in the test tube (NOT to the whole portion of filtrate!). If
the mixture turns a cloudy white, salt may still be in the filter paper. Rinse the sand in the
evaporating dish two more times and test again. If still cloudy, some Cl¯ still remains on the filter
paper. It is reasonable to stop rinsing when 120-150 mL water has been used.
Lift out the filter paper, open it up and rinse any sand granules that might have been trapped
on the paper back into the evaporating dish. Use a little deionized water from your wash bottle
to transfer any sand you find. Let the sand granules settle again in the evaporating dish, and then
decant as much water, without spilling any sand, as you can. Dry the dish with the damp sand by
placing it over the beaker as shown. Place the beaker with the salt solution on wire gauze
mounted on an iron ring over a Bunsen burner.

GOGGLES ARE MANDATORY – HOT SALT SPLATTERS

Your instructor should check your set-up

before you light the burner. Gently heat
the salt water. Steam should escape from
the beaker but the solution should not spit
or spatter. As the water evaporates and the
salt dries out, it is especially important to
heat gently. If salt crystals spatter onto the
dish, wait until the salt in the beaker
is almost dry, turn off the burner. Scrape any
crystals back into the beaker from the dish
and try again to dry the salt without spattering.
Use a very gentle flame. Lift the beaker off the
ring with beaker tongs (these are available in the
lab – they have black rubber tips) and place it on a clean fiber pad. Let the beaker cool
completely. Place the dish with the sand in an oven for 15 minutes to dry completely.

Weigh the beaker with the dried salt. After the first heating and cooling, these items can be
placed in an oven or gently flame dried for a few minutes, cooled and weighed again.

Never weigh an item while it is hot or even warm; it should be close to room temperature.

Disposal: The sand can be tossed in the trash and the salt rinsed into the sink.

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EXPERIMENT 4: REPORT Name___________________________
SEPARATION OF A MIXTURE
Section ______
Data Table:
Mixture unknown code number (see bottle) ________________

Mass of evaporating dish _______________

Mass of dish with mixture sample _______________

Mass of beaker _______________

Mass of beaker with dried salt ____________ _____________ ____________

first heating / cooling 2nd heating / cooling third heating / cooling

Mass of evaporating dish with dried sand ____________ _____________ ____________

first heating / cooling 2nd heating / cooling third heating / cooling

Calculations: Show your work for each of the following calculations * :

Mass of your sample of mixture _______________
(Show set-up of calculation here)

Mass of salt in the mixture sample _______________

Mass of sand in the mixture sample _______________

Percentage of salt in the mixture _______________

Percentage of sand in the mixture _______________

Total percent recovery _______________

Los Angeles City College Chemistry 60

QUESTIONS
1. Many students do not recover 100% of the original mixture. Describe at least two possible
problems that could cause less than 100% recovery of the mixture.

2. A student received a mixture that actually contained 50.0% salt and 50.0% sand. At the end
of the experiment, this student calculated that his sample was composed of 45.2% salt and
54.8% sand. What might he have done (or not done correctly) during the experiment to
cause this error in his results?

3. A student obtains the following data:

Mass of evaporating dish 25.87 g

Mass of dish with mixture sample 28.12 g
Mass of beaker 146.36 g
Mass of beaker with dried salt 147.10 g
Mass of evaporating dish with dried sand ???

However, this student spills her sand sample out of the evaporating dish before weighing it. If
the student believes in the Law of Conservation of Mass, what should have been the weight of
the evaporating dish with the sand in it? Show your work.

4. A student receives a sample of a mixture with three components, solid iodine that is removed
first from the mixture by evaporation, solid salt that is dissolved to separate it from the third
component, and solid sand. The salt and sand are dried and weighed but the iodine escapes
as a gas and is not recovered. The student starts with 8.35 g of mixture and recovers 2.37 g
of salt and 4.11 g of sand. What is the percent of each component in the original mixture?
Show your work. (Attach a separate sheet of paper, if necessary.)

Los Angeles City College Chemistry 60