Gravimetric Analysis and

separation
Gravimetric Analysis is a process that involves determining the amount of compositions that
is present in a mixture by separation and mathematical calculations based on mass. The
importance of this process is evident in the that it is widely used in real-world applications,
particularly in industry due to its high degree of precision when carried out successfully.
Gravimetric analysis is typically used in conjunction with separation techniques and this
because most if not all of the original sample is impure, so in order to find the amount of
composition is in the mixture, it is required to separate the mixture into its components so
that they can be separately weighed. After this is done, the amount and percentage of each
composition can be calculated. An example of the use of gravimetric analysis in industry is
finding the amount of a certain metal in its ore, such as iron or copper. Once the percentage
of the composition is found, the theoretical quantity of that particular metal can be
determined from a specific mass of the ore, for example, how much iron can be yielded in a
tonne of iron ore. Gravimetric analysis is not just limited to industrial use; it is also used in
scientific research and experiments. Geologists can use the gravimetric method to find how
much of a type of mineral in a rock so it can be extracted for industrial use or chemists to
synthesise ammonia. Overall, the use of gravimetric analysis is paramount to real-world
applications as explained above and can provide useful results for scientists.

Hypothesis
The sand, salt and water mixture will be separated into its components by two different types
of separation techniques; filtration and evaporation. However, even though the separation
will be carried out, the data obtained from gravimetric analysis is still an estimation and will
differ slightly from the actual mass of the mixture because of very discreet quantity losses of
the components due to movement and small particles being stuck to equipment.

Aim
To determine the percentage of each component in the sand, salt and water mixture by
separating the mixture into its components and using the method of gravimetric analysis to
find the quantity of each component.

Risk

Reason for risk

Treatment

Prevention/Precaution
s

Bunsen Burner flame

Flame can cause from

1st to 3rd degree burns
and can cause fires.

Avoid being close to

flame and remove all
flammable objects.

Salt crystals can start

to "jump" when
conical flask is being
evaporated due to

The salt can come in

contact to eyes which
will cause extreme pain
and possibly prohibit

Gently apply cold

water to burn. If a fire
occurs, evacuate
building
Alert teacher and
wash eyes with the
eyewash sink.

Avoid looking down the

conical flask from the
top and wear safety
glasses. Remove

Bunsen Burner to cool

the flask to stop the
salt from jumping.
Don't touch the flask at
Hot conical flask after Touching the flask will
Gently apply cold
evaporation
burn hand.
water to burnt area.
all and wait for it to cool
Since the composition of the mixture is non-hazardous in terms of skin contact, inhalation
and environmental risk, special disposal methods are not required. The sand can be simply
disposed into a bin and the salt is washed down into the sink using water.
heat.

vision.

Equipment

1 container holding sand and salt mixture (mass is predetermined)

1 clean water source (tap)
Two empty 250ml beakers
One empty 250ml conical flask
1 filter paper
1 Bunsen Burner
1 tripod and gauze mat
1 retort stand and ring clamp
1 filter funnel
1 gas source
1 sheet of A4 paper
A packet of 24 "redhead" matchsticks
1 Stirring rod
1 spatula
1 Electronic scale

Method
1. Using an electronic scale, weigh the two 250ml beakers, 250ml conical flask, filter
paper, A4 sheet of paper and the container with the sand and salt mixture. Record
the mass of each.
2. Using an empty beaker, add 50ml of water and weigh on scale. Take the total mass
of the beaker and subtract the mass of the beaker (weighed in step 1) to attain the
mass of water only. Record mass.
3. Pour the sand and salt mixture into another empty beaker and weight it on a scale.
Subtract the total mass by the mass of the empty beaker to get the mass of the sand
and salt mixture. Record mass
4. Pour water into the beaker that contains the sand/salt mixture using the beaker with
water. Weigh the entire solution and subtract the mass of the 250ml beaker to give
the mass of the sand and salt mixture then record results. Check the result by adding
the mass of water and the mass of sand salt mixture to give the total mass of the
entire mixture.
5. Set up the filtration apparatus as shown in diagram a) using the retort stand, ring
clamp, conical flask and filter funnel.
6. Fold the filter paper into 4 quarters and then open it up into a cone shape then place
into the filter funnel.
7. Slowly pour the salt water solution and sand into the filter funnel and allow the water
to completely filter through. Using a spatula, scoop the remaining sand from the
beaker and onto the filter paper.

8. It is likely that sand will be stuck to the beaker wall, so add small amounts of water to
make the sand clump. Scoop out the sand and place it into the filter funnel.
9. Repeat step 8 until no sand is left in the beaker.
10. Carefully take out the filter paper from the filter funnel and place it on the A4 paper.
Unfold the filter paper carefully so that it does not rip.
11. Spread the sand out evenly so it can evaporate uniformly. Allow it to dry for one day.
12. Remove the filtration apparatus and start setting up the evaporation apparatus as
shown in diagram b), using the Bunsen burner, tripod and gauze mat.
13. Place the conical flask on the gauze mat.
14. Before lighting the Bunsen burner, close the air hole first and then light the match and
place it over the top. Do not place hand directly over the burner tube.
15. Turn on the gas tap and then open the air hole so that the flame is blue.
16. Wait for the salt water solution to evaporate. Keep an eye on the "popping of salt". If
this occurs, remove the Bunsen burner from underneath and allow the conical flask
to cool before placing the burner underneath again. Repeat this process until all the
water has evaporated and this is indicated by the formation of white crystals (i.e.
salt).
17. Turn off the gas tap and remove the Bunsen burner. Leave the conical flask to cool
for one day.
18. Return to the sand and weigh using an electronic scale. Take the total mass (given
by the scale) and subtract the sum of the mass of the A4 paper and the filter paper to
attain the mass of sand.
19. Weigh the conical flask and take the total mass and subtract the mass of the conical
flask to get mass of the remaining salt crystals. Record results.

Results

Mass of beaker (250ml)

Mass of conical flask (250ml)
Mass of filtrate paper
Mass of A4 paper
Mass of water
Mass of sand and salt mixture (given before

124.25g
112.8g
0.80g
5.40g
50.42g
21.48 g

experiment)
Mass of sand
Mass of salt crystals
Mass of salt, sand and water

17.13g
12.52g
71.91g

Mass of sand and salt mixture= total mass of 250ml beaker with mixture- mass of 250ml
beaker= 145.73g-124.25g= 21.48g
Mass of water= mass of beaker with water- mass of beaker=174.67g-124.25g=50.42g
Mass of sand= (total mass of sand, filter paper and A4 paper)- (mass of filter paper+A4
sheet)= 23.33g-6.20g=17.13g
Mass of salt= total mass of conical flask and salt- mass of conical flask= 125.32g112.80g=12.52g

Percentage of sand in original mixture:

mass of sand
17.13 grams
100 =
100 =0.2406=23.82
mass of originalmixture
71.91 grams

(2 decimal places)

Percentage of salt in original mixture:

mass of salt
12.52 grams
100 =
100 =0.1741=17.41
mass of originalmixture
71.91 grams
Percentage of water in original mixture:

mass of water
50.42 grams
100 =
100 =0.7012=70.12
mass of originalmixture
71.91 grams

Quantity of components
80
70
60
50
40
Quantity of each ccomponent (%)
30
20
10
0
Sand

% of component

Type of composition in mixture

Discussion
From the results attained, the 50mL water added to the sand and salt mixture to form the
original mixture is the largest in quantity with 70% if the total mass consisting of water simply
because the amount added surpassed the amount of both sand and salt mixture. The
component that has the lowest quantity in the mixture was salt, with only 17% of it making up
the total mass of the mixture. There was more sand than salt, with 24% of the mixture
consisting of sand, but it is still dwarfed by the quantity of water due to the large volume
added in order to dissolve the salt for it to be successfully filtrated. It is also noted that there
is a discrepancy in the results obtained of the mass of sand and salt mixture and the original
mass of the sand and salt mixture. Ideally, the sum of the mass of the sand and the mass of
salt should be equal to the mass of the starting mixture of salt and sand, however, the
experimental result above did not adhere to the ideal result. Instead of the sum of the mass
being equal to 21.48 grams which is mass of the original sand and salt mixture, the sum of
the two components was equal to 29.65 grams instead. As seen from the given results, there
is a discrepancy of 8.17 grams. This large inconsistency in mass is due to the presence of
the salt crystals in the filtrated sand and also the presence of small amounts of water in the
conical flask after evaporation. The cause of this is the inefficient procedure of carrying the
separation due to the nature of how the experiment was carried out and also with the
behaviour of sand when it becomes wet. During the filtration process, the sand in the beaker
was stuck to the wall when it was wet, making it difficult to remove the remaining sand
grains. Given the size of a sand grain and a spatula, it is extremely difficult to extract each
grain, so water was added in an attempt to clump the sand so it can be placed into the filter
funnel. After repeating the same process, there is very small amounts of sand left, around
several grains remaining, but the total mass will be extremely small, so it can be considered
as negligible, causing the results to differ slightly from the actual amount. In addition, when
the salt water was successfully filtered into the conical flask, the sand was wet which is an
indication that traces of salt water was still in the sand. Since the boiling point of salt is
significantly higher than the boiling point of water, when the sand was left to evaporate to rid
of the remaining water, salt was left on the sand. On the other hand, the evaporation
procedure was due to human error because the Bunsen burner was removed too early and
this had apparently allowed small traces of water to reside in the conical flask, but this effect
was not seen until a day later when the contents had cooled and the water was seen.
Therefore, the unevaporated water and the salt on the dried sand made up the excess 8.17
grams.
Despite the inaccurate results, effort is still maintained to produce an accurate result and this
is done during the weighing of all of the equipment and mixture given. It is at this point that
most of the crucial measurement for determining the quantity of the composition is
calculated because the total mass of the sand and salt mixture and the mass of water can be
determine at this point which is useful for finding the percentage of each component in the
mixture. When measuring the equipment, it is ensured that the scale is zeroed and is
working properly before measuring any equipment and then the equipment is weighed until a
constant mass is obtained. This is to make sure that the mass of the equipment is absolute.
From the results, the excess 8.17 grams determined from the difference of the mass of
sand/salt and the sum of the masses of sand and salt caused the decrease in the accuracy
of the results. The accuracy of the results was only 88.65% which is a low degree of

accuracy and the cause of the readings is mainly attributed to the discrepancy between the
mass of the original sand and salt mixture and the individual masses of the sand and salt.
This caused a severe inaccuracy in the data which presents a problem to the reliability and
the overall validity of the experiment itself.
In order to carry out the method of gravimetric analysis successfully and to ensure its
reliability, the results must be consistent when the experiment has been performed and
repeated. In this case, the experiment has been performed only once, making it difficult to
determine the reliability of the results of a single experiment, however, reliability is achieved
slightly in terms of minimising possible mathematical errors. This is done by weighing each
instrument and mixture until a constant mass is obtained, but in order for this to be possible,
ensure that there are no disturbances that can affect the scale or the readings will change.
Even though this was done, the results obtained were different to the supposed mass which
was the mass of the sand and salt mixture. The cause of this was the error made during the
separation process where the Bunsen burner was not left long enough to evaporate the
water and also with the salt crystals remaining on the sand, causing the data to be skewed
more than predicted. Consequently, the reliability of the experiment has reduced significantly
and in turn, the validity of the experiment would also decrease since reliability enhances the
results.
The experiment was carried out with the same equipment and variables would be kept
constant and followed the procedure for gravimetric analysis. The experiment was carried
out in a controlled environment; that is no disturbance in room temperature and movement
of air caused by external factors (wind, air conditioning) which is mitigated by closing
windows and turning off air conditioning because it carries the possibility of affecting the
weighing equipment. Despite this, the trace of the salt in sand and the water in the conical
flask undermines the validity of the experiment and this is because the separation error had
altered the results and hence, the data obtained was different from the actual mass of the
mixture which is due to human error and poor timing as explained above. Furthermore, on
the day of finalising the results of the mass of sand and salt, the air conditioner was turned
on so the readings on the electronic scales began to fluctuate due to movement of air and
hence, causing the results extremely difficult to read. This overall created difficultly in
accurately determining the data and therefore affected the credibility of the experiment
because it alters the conclusion drawn from the experiment. Nevertheless, the experiment
still managed to meet the requirement of the research method, that is, the mixture was still
separated and its quantity in the original mixture was successfully calculated even with the
mass inconsistency in the results.
The experiment itself has its own difficulties when it was carried even though it did not
directly contribute directly to the inconsistency in the results. One of these difficulties
encountered was on the day of measuring the dried sand and salt where the fans in the
room were turned on, affecting the electronic scales. This caused the readings to constantly
change, making it hard to accurately determine the results on the scale and overall caused
the skew in data. Furthermore, extracting the sand stuck to the wall of the was a difficult
procedure to perform, resulting small specks of sand remaining in the beaker. In terms of
limitations, the experiment could not be repeated so the results could not be compared of
two identical samples of the mixture and therefore, reliability was difficult to determine.

Given the highly inaccurate results, it is clear that the experiment can be improved
significantly. This can be done by improving how the separation procedure was carried out
because even though the method of separation was not responsible for the discrepancy in
mass, the way it was performed was the cause. Firstly, to prevent the excess water being in
the salt, the salt water solution must be evaporated slowly and allowed to cool properly
before heating it again with the Bunsen burner to allow all of the water evaporated instead
of just assuming the water has evaporated just because the salt looks dry. Secondly, when
filtering out the sand from salt water, ensure that the all of the sand is on the filter paper
rather than leaving small amounts in the beaker. This can be done by adding small amounts
of water to the beaker to clump the sand together and then pouring the remains into the filter
paper. Note that this process can be repeated. Lastly, turning off the air conditioning when
measuring the mass of the sand and salt allows for a more stable reading on the electronic
scale and hence, more accuracy. By refining these three flaws in the experiment will not just
yield a much more accurate result, it will improve the reliability and validity of the experiment
as a whole.
Discussion questions

1. What was the basis of separation of the soluble salt from the insoluble
component in your sample?
The basis of separation of sand and salt is simply the solubility of the two compounds
and the addition of water. Since salt is soluble in water whereas sand is not, the
addition of water causes the sand to form a sediment at the bottom due to its
insolubility and its higher density than water. Salt will dissolve in water, creating a salt
water solution and the sand as a sediment. Therefore, this allows the mixture to be
filtered out, leaving the sand behind and the salt water as a filtrate.
2. Is the salt you have isolated a pure substance or a mixture? Explain
your answer.
The salt that has been isolated in the conical flask was not a pure substance as
intended, but rather it was a mixture of salt and water. This is due to the incomplete
evaporation of the water because the evaporation process was stopped too early,
causing the unevaporated water remain in the flask, hence, forming a mixture instead
as a pure substance.
3. Describe two situations where gravimetric analysis can supply useful
data for chemists and other scientists.
Gravimetric analysis is useful in determining the mass of an unknown mixture by
separation and calculation. This technique is widely used in industry and by scientists
because of its accuracy it done correctly and easy procedure, particularly for
geologists. When finding the quantity of an ore or mineral in a mixture, usually a rock
for mining, the rock sample must be crushed and separated and the individual mass
of each ore and mineral can be calculated. From the results, the geologists can
conclude whether the rock source is suitable for mining. Chemists can use
gravimetric analysis for determining the chemical hardness in water. The calcium and
magnesium ions that cause this can be precipitated out by a soluble carbonate and
the concentration of these ions can be determined by calculation.
4. Give one practical application from industry where the following
separation techniques are applied: Sieving, sedimentation, evaporation,
distillation and fractional distillation.

Separation techniques is used prominently in industry for a variety of reasons ranging

from scientific research, to obtaining useful resources. Such techniques of separation
include sieving, sedimentation, evaporation, distillation and fractional distillation.
Sieving is useful for separating two mixtures of different particle size and a practical
use is in quarry operations. The sand (used in concrete), river pebbles (possible
waste or decoration in gardens) and the larger rocks (used in concrete) are
separated. Sedimentation is used in water treatment plants when the water flows into
sedimentation basins and the sludge created after the flocculation of water settles to
the bottom. Evaporation is used to obtain salt from sea water and the salt is then
packaged and sold to consumers. Distillation is used distilling spirits in alcohols. The
distillation process purifies the mixture from alcohol fermentation and removes
diluting components such as water to increase the proportion of alcohol content. If a
mixture contains compounds that have small differences between their boiling points;
usually around less than 25C. To overcome this problem, a modified process of
distillation called fractional distillation is used. Crude oil provides the majority of the
world's energy and fuel, but in its state as crude oil, it is essentially useless.
Fractional distillation separates the crude oil by heating it at different temperatures
and this yields more useful fuels such as kerosene, fuel oil, petrol, lubricating oil and
greases and wax.

5. Mass of copper ore= 152 grams.

Mass of Iron ore= 345 grams
Percentage of iron ore:

mass of iron ore

345 grams
100 =
100 =0.345=34.5
total mass of sample ore
1000 grams

Percentage or copper ore:

mass of copper ore

152 grams
100 =
100 =0.152=15.2
total mass of sample ore
1000 grams
Therefore, there is 34.5% iron ore and 15.2% copper ore in the sample of ore.
Challenge question
Magnetite is Fe3O4.
a) Percentage of iron:

total mass number of ironmagnetite

3 55.85
100 =
total mass number of magnetite
( 3 55.85 ) +(16.00 4) 100%=0.7236=
72.36%
Therefore, magnetite consists of 72.36% iron.
b) Let x= theoretical mass of iron in 1kg of magnetite

x
72.36
=
1000 kg 100
x=

1000 kg 72.36
=723.6 kg
100

Therefore, 723.60 kilograms of iron can be theoretically obtained from magnetite.

Conclusion
The mixture of sand, salt and water was only partially successful in separating the
components because of the mistake of turning off the Bunsen burner too early, allowing
water to reside in the salt, thus causing the results to be highly inaccurate. This inaccuracy
was unexpected and even though it was predicted to be slightly off, the actual data gained
had an error of 11.35% which very considerable all due to one human error made during the
separation process.

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