Technology used in separating mixtures and steps taken to do so by @katiewest || Club5050

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Imagine told to separate sand from water. That seems impossible right? Very impossible but possible with technology. If you are also asked to separate water from kerosene, would that seem possible? Not really but can be possible with technology.

Greetings to you all, my fellow Steemians. Hope your day has been pleasant. I am delighted to make a new post and hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Today’s topic is on “Separation Techniques” in Chemistry and technologies used in separation. It’s a familiar one, and we all use some of the methods that would be discussed in our day-to-day activities. As you already know, I always aim to help Steemians understand the topic I write on.

Separation Techniques

Separation Techniques are the methods or ways in which we can split/separate a mixture of substances into their individual substance. These techniques are usually physical methods of separation.

Note: A mixture is a substance derived when two or more individual substances are physically combined. These substances combined may be elements, compounds or even both.
Since they are combined physically, they can be separated physically as well.

There are various physical methods used in separation of mixtures. The correct and accurate method required for the separation on a particular mixture depends on;

• Boiling points of the constituents
• Sublimation property
• Magnetic properties
• Size of constituent,etc.

Once these properties are put in place, the best method for separation is used for maximum effect.

Types of Separation Techniques.

For this post, I’ll be enlightening you on only 4 types so it would not be too lengthy, a separate post for the others will be made for easy understanding.

1. Sieving: This is a physical method of separating mixtures(in solid form) of varying sizes. A sieve is used in this method. The mixture(e.g garri and beans) is placed in the sieve and the one with smaller size(ie the garri) is sieved out, leaving the beans with a larger size. This way, the garri and beans will be separated by the sieve. This method is usually used in garri production and mining.

2. Decantation: This method is used to separate liquid from solid. It is not a very accurate method of separation, but it is quick. The mixture is left to decant, this way, the denser solid particles settle at the bottom leaving the liquid above. The layer of liquid is then poured out into a separate container, and the solid remains. It can be used when water is mixed with sand.

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1. Filtration: In this method, a filter paper and funnel are used. Filtration is the physical method of separating the insoluble particles from the liquid through filter paper.
   The filter paper is folded into the funnel, then the mixture is passed through it. The liquid pours through the mixture and into the container placed below the funnel. While the remnant left in the is the insoluble solid. The liquid is called the filtrate. The solid in the filter paper is called the residue.

2. Evaporation: In this method, the solute(solid) is dissolved in the solution. Evaporation involves the heating to dryness of the solution to separate the solid from liquid. E.g; salt solution.
   A Bunsen burner and evaporating dish is required to carry out this separation technique.

Technologies used

• Bunsen burner
• Filter paper
• Separation funnel
• Evaporating dish
• Chromatographic column for chromatography..........
• Distillation flask etc.

Here are some of those technologies used in separating mixtures.....

Cc,
@ngoenyi
@patjewell