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Matter Terminology Classifying Matter Phases of Matter Physical and Chemical Changes Separation Techniques Vapor Pressure Phase Changes Heating Curve Phase Diagrams

Separation Techniques
Source-http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Matter/SeparationOfMixtures.html I. Hand Separation An example which could be separated by hand might be a dry mixture of salt and sand. Manually picking out the sand does not change the chemical identity of the salt or the sand. Even though this technique is crude, it does show up in making an important discovery. It was the discovery of optical isomers by Louis Pasteur in 1844, the first major discovery of his scientific career. He was able to separate what had been thought to be one compound into two. He carefully crystallized the compound and, the key insight, saw that it crystallized into right-handed and left-handed crystals. He able to pick out the opposite handed crystals and demonstrate that solutions of each rotated polarized light in opposite directions. It turns out, for a number of reasons, that Pasteur was very lucky. However, notice that he DID see that luck had presented something important to him and he was able to follow it through.

II. Filtration Filtration is a bit more sophistication than manually picking out stuff. Mix the sand/salt with water. The salt dissolves, the sand does not. Pour through a filter to separate the sand, then heat the salt water to drive off the water. All physical changes. Often, in chemistry, a reaction will be carried out and a solid material formed where there was none before. Filtration is the most common technique to remove the solid material. Filters range widely in sophistication. Common ordinary filter paper (as might be used to make coffee) is inexpensive. The filter used in an oil filter for a car costs a bit more and so on. There are special application filters in various areas, both chemistry and other, where the filters are quite expensive. Sometimes, the solid portions is what you want and sometimes it is the material you discard, keeping what passed through the filter. In 1943, Glenn Seaborg discovered element 94, later named plutonium. He and his co-workers carried out a series of steps, both chemical and physical, to purify the plutonium, one of which was a filtration. They kept the solid and discarded what passed through the filter. Sometime later (2-3 years? I'd have to check), Seaborg discovered that elements 95 and 96 were also in the samples prepared. However, they were soluble, stayed in solution, passed through the filter and remained undiscovered due to the then singleminded focus on plutonium. (Plutonium was used to build the first atomic bomb and was also used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, three days after a uranium bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.)

From-http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/science10/unita/redon17.html III. Distillation-Imagine a solution of alcohol and water. Heat it. The lower boiling component (alcohol) will come off first, so you hold the temperature until all the alcohol is gone. You've separated the water and the alcohol with only physical changes involved. (The actual technique is a bit more sophisticated, but you get the idea.) IV. Chromatography-Chromatography is a family of analytical chemistry techniques for the separation of mixtures. It involves passing the sample, a mixture which contains the analyte, in the "mobile phase", often in a stream of solvent, through the "stationary phase." The stationary phase retards the passage of the components of the sample. When components pass

through the system at different rates they become separated in time, like runners in a marathon. Ideally, each component has a characteristic time of passage through the system. This is called it's "retention time." A chromatograph takes a chemical mixture carried by liquid or gas and separates it into its component parts as a result of differential distributions of the solutes as they flow around or over a stationary liquid or solid phase. Various techniques for the separation of complex mixtures rely on the differential affinities of substances for a gas or liquid mobile medium and for a stationary adsorbing medium through which they pass; such as paper, gelatin, or magnesium silicate gel.

Chromatography #2

V. Centrifugation-In Centrifuges the centrifugal force is mechanically generated by turning the equipment containing the
fluid in a circular path causing the fluids to separate. This method has been used in the laboratories and primitive industries for

over a century. It has mainly been used to separate fluids in static state, i.e. ,specific volumes which needed to be separated. When the volume was large or it was in a dynamic state , i.e., flowing, centrifuges were not capable to deal with the situation. Relatively recently , however, new equipment were designed to deal with such conditions. Please refer to manufacturers sites for more information on these equipment

DECANTATION Decantation is a very quick method for separating a mixture of a liquid and a heavier solid. If we want to separate a mixture of water and same, First, we should allow the sand to settle on the bottom of the container. Then we poured off the water at the top. The advantage of this method is quick, but there is a disadvantage of this method which is rough. It cannot be used to separate a mixture of a liquid and a light sold, such as chalk in water. The particles of chalk are suspended in the water. They are so light that they do not sink down to the bottom for a long time. EVAPORATION We cannot separate a mixture which is a solution using filtration or centrifugation. Since it is spread all through the solvent in tiny particles. The solution is heated so that the solvent evaporates, and just leave the solid behind. The diagram below show by using this method, salt can be obtained from its solution. Only solute can be obtained, and solvent will evaporate away in the process of EVAPORATION. CRYSTALLIZATION It is a process of forming crystals. It is also a method for separating dissolved solids from a solution. Two common techniques of Crystallization are: 1. By cooling down a hot concentrated solution. The solution has to be heated to get rid of some water in order to obtain crystals from an unsaturated aqueous solution. The solution becomes more concentrated as the water boils away. The solvent cannot hold all the

dissolved solids when concentrated solution is cools and is hot. The reason for this is because a hot solvent dissolve more solutes than cold solvent. Then the extra solids will be separated out as crystals. We can check the solution is concentrated enough by placing one drop of it on a microscopic slide by using a glass rod. If the solution is concentrated enough, crystals should form. 2. Slow evaporation of solution at room temperature. Crystals can be obtained by evaporating a solution at room temperature. After the solvent in the solution has been evaporates, the remaining solution will becomes more and more concentrated. Then it will becomes saturated. Further evaporation makes the extra solids separate out as crystals. It may take several days or maybe even weeks for crystals to form because evaporation of a solution at room temperature is a slow process. Note that the beaker is covered with a piece of filter paper with holes on it in the below diagram. The used of the filter paper is to prevent dust and dirt from getting into the solution. Otherwise the crystals formed might be very small. Crystals formed by slow cooling or evaporation are large. For those which formed quickly are usually small. It is because solute particle need time to arrange themselves in regular shapes in order to form crystals.After crystallization, crystals can then be separated from the solution by using filtration. Use cold distilled water to wash the crystals two or three times after filtration. Collect the crystals with a spatula and dry them by pressing it gently between filter papers. PURIFYING SOLID BY CRYSTALLIZATION Crystallization can be used to purify solids as well. Assume a sample of cane sugar contains a small amount of glucose as impurities. They are both soluble in water. Pure cane sugar can be crystallized and removed from the solution. In the solution, glucose will remain dissolved. USING A SEPARATING FUNNEL Immiscible liquids,such as oil and water can be separated by using a separating funnel. The mixture is put into a separating funnel, shaken and allowed to settle. The oil and water from two separate layer. The liquid with higher density, in this case water forms the lower layer. Remove the stopper and open the tap after standing. The water runs out through the tap. The oil remains in the funnel and can be run out into another beaker. SOLVENT EXTRACTION

An useful technique for dissolving out a component from a mixture using a suitable solvent is called SOLVENT EXTRACTION. Assume we wish to extract iodine which is dissolved in water together with some impurities. Iodine is more soluble than water. We can put the aqueous solution of iodine into a separating funnel and add 1,1,1-trichloroethane to it. Water and 1,1,1-trichloroethane form two separate layers because they are immiscible. After shaking, most of the iodine will then dissolve in the 1,1,1-trichloroethane layer. 1,1,1-trichloroethane from water, pure iodine can then be obtained by evaporating after separating. CENTRIFUGATION Centrifugation is used when we want to separate small amounts of suspension. The suspension of solid in liquid is poured into a centrifuge tube, then spin around very fast in a centrifuge. The spinning motion forces the solid to the bottom of the tube. Then the liquid can be poured off from the solid. Centrifugation is commonly used in dairies to separate milk from cream to make skimmed milk. It is possible because milk has less density than cream. The idea of centrifugation is applied in washing machine for drying clothes. There are many small holes in the washing drum in a washing machine. After the washing is completed, the washing will then rotate at high speed, this will forces the water on the wet clothes out through all the small holes. SUBLIMATION Some solids can change to vapor state without melting when heated. We called it SUBLIMATION. When the vapor is cooled, the solid forms again. We often use sublimation to separate a mixture of two solids in which one sublimes, but the other does not. For example, iodine from a mixture of sand and iodine by sublimation. When heated, only iodine changes to vapor. The vapor changes back to solid on the side of the funnel. An inverted test tube is placed over if too much vapor is escaping from funnel. Substances which sublime include anhydrous aluminum chloride, iodine and benzoic acid, anhydrous iron (III) chloride and anhydrous aluminum chloride.

DETERMINING the BOILING POINT of a LIQUID We can put the liquid into a test tube fitted with a thermometer to determine the boiling point of a liquid that does not catch fire easily. Add some anthibumping graniles and heat the liquid gently until it boils and record down the boiling point.

CENTRIFUGATION Centrifugation is used when we want to separate small amounts of suspension. The suspension of solid in liquid is poured into a centrifuge tube, then spin around very fast in a centrifuge. The spinning motion forces the solid to the bottom of the tube. Then the liquid can be poured off from the solid. Centrifugation is commonly used in dairies to separate milk from cream to make skimmed milk. It is possible because milk has less density than cream. The idea of centrifugation is applied in washing machine for drying clothes. There are many small holes in the washing drum in a washing machine. After the washing is completed, the washing will then rotate at high speed, this will forces the water on the wet clothes out through all the small holes.