Tuesday 2nd February, 2016

2. Separating Components of Mixtures

1.
a) Sand and iron: magnetism can be used as iron will be attracted while
sand is not
b) Iron and steel: magnetism cannot be used as both iron and steel are
magnetic
c) Sand and aluminium: magnetism cannot be used as neither are
magnetic
2.
Components of mixture
Sand from gravel

Process used
Sieving

Petrol and water

Solid sewage from liquid
sewage
Blood cells from liquid
blood
Sugar crystals from the
liquid released from
crushed sugar cane
Sand and salt
Nitrogen and oxygen in
air

Separating funnel
Filtering or
decanting
Centrifugation

Property
Solids with different-sized
particles
Difference in density
Difference in particle size
Difference in density

Filtration

Difference in solubility

Evaporation
Fractional
distillation

Difference in boiling points

Difference in boiling points

3. Refer to diagrams in book

a) Distillation
b) Filtration and distillation
c) Separating funnel
4.
a) Filter: pass a substance through a device to remove unwanted material
b) Liquefaction: the process of liquefying or making liquid
c) Fractional distillation: separation of components in a mixture of
different boiling points by gradually increasing the temperature and the
separate collection of each component
d) Decant: to pour a liquid from one container to another
e) Centrifuge: to use an apparatus that rotates at high speed to separate
substances of different densities
f) Sieve: to put or sift through a sieve
5. To separate a mixture of iron filings and sulfur, pour the mixture onto a
watchglass and use magnetism to attract the iron filings while the sulfur
remains on the watchglass.
6.
a)

Tuesday 2nd February, 2016

Sugar cane
stems cut and
taken to
processing plant

Stems crushed
and liquid forced
out of stems

Liquid spun out

through holes
while solids stay

Liquid removed and

heated where water
disappears and sugar
crystals form

Liquid separated
from remains by
centrifugation

b) Spins the mixture: centrifugation

Water disappears and crystals of sugar form: evaporation
c) Centrifugation utilises the property of differences in density while
evaporation uses differences in boiling points.
d) A useful product of sugar cane is ethanol.
e) Although the extraction of sugar from sugar cane can be beneficial, it
poses problems for the environment, and subsequently humans, as the
waste products created as a result of this process were originally burned.
This created much pollution of smoke, solid particles and carbon dioxide
which are all threatening to humans and biota. However, this is much less
of an issue today as much of this waste is being used to produce ethanol
and polymers.
7.
a) Substances you can separate by:
i)
Filtering: sand and salt water, shell grit and salt water
ii)
Crystallisation: salt from water, sugar from water
iii)
Sieving: sand and gravel, flour with lumps
iv)
Separating funnel: oil and water, petrol and water