EXPERIMENTAL CHEMISTRY

Mixtures, Solutions, and Solvents

• Mixture: Contains more the one substance. They are just

mixed together and not chemically combined.
• Example: Sand and water.
• Solution: It is when a solute and a solvent mix. The solute
dissolves in the solvent making a solution.
• Example: sugar (solute) dissolves in water (solvent) making a
solution of sugar and water.
• The solubility of every substance is different.
• To help a solute dissolve you could:
• Stir it
• Rise the temperature
• If you add excess amount of sugar in a small amount of
water...it won’t dissolve as there is no space for it. The
solution becomes saturated.
• Solvent: A substance that allows solutes to dissolve in
• Example: Water, Ethanol
 Pure substances and impurities

• A pure substance is a substance that has no particles

of any other substance mixed with it.
• An unwanted substance, mixed with a wanted
substance, is called an impurity.
• A pure substance melts or boils at a fixed and constant
temperature
• A pure substance has a definite, sharp, melting point.

When a substance is impure, the melting point falls and

its boiling point rises. So the more impurity present, the

wider and bigger the change in melting and boiling

point
 Separation methods:

• Filter ------------------------- Solid from liquid

• Centrifuge ------------------ Solid from liquid

• Evaporation ---------------- Solid from its solution

• Crystallization -------------- Solid from its solution

• Distillation ------------------ Solvent from a solution

• Fractional distillation ----- Liquid from each other

• Chromatography ---------- Different substances from a solution

 Other techniques include:
 Separating funnel-To separate mixtures of immiscible liquids.

Eg: Oil and Water

 Magnetic separation-To separate a magnetic solid, like iron from a mixture.

 Use of suitable solvent-To separate a solid from a mixture of solids by using

their solubility difference.

 Use of density method-To separate a solid from a mixture of solids by using

their density difference
 Separation methods:
1. FILTRATION
• It is used to separate an insoluble solid from a liquid
Example: A mixture of chalk and water...

• A filter paper is placed in a funnel, the funnel placed on a flask.

• The mixture is poured on the filter paper.

• The chalk (the residue) will remain in the filter paper and the
water (the filtrate) will fall down in the flask
FILTRATION
 2.CENTRIFUGING

•This method is used to separate small

amounts of solid and liquid. Inside a
centrifuge (it’s a machine), test tubes are
spun very fast so the solid gets flung to the
bottom
 3. EVAPORATION

 This method is used to separate a solution in which the

solid is dissolved in the liquid.

 The solution is heated so that the liquid evaporates and

the solid remains in the bottom of the evaporating dish.

 4. CRYSTALLISATION
 This method is similar to evaporation but here the solid forms crystals then

the crystals are left to dry.

 Experimental procedure
 The impure solid is dissolved in the solvent through a process called dissolution
by stirring. Heating increases the speed of dissolution. (Step 1)
 The salt solution (impure) is filtered off to separate the solid impurities. (Picture
not included) (Step 2)

 The salt solution is heated until a saturated solution is formed. (A saturated

solution is a solution in which no more solute can be dissolved.) (Step 3)
 The saturated solution is cooled to form crystals that can be dried on a filter
paper. (Step 4)
 Uses of crystallization.

 Obtaining pure sugar.

 Making pure silicon used in computer chips.

 Purification of antibiotics.
 5. SIMPLE DISTILLATION
• Used to obtain a pure liquid (Solvent) from a solution of a solid (Solute).
Use of distillation
• To obtain pure water from the sea water. (Process also known as
Desalination)
 SIMPLE DISTILLATION

• Experimental Procedure

• The impure liquid is heated.

• It boils, and steam rises into the condenser.

• The impurities are left behind.

• The condenser is cold so the steam condenses to the pure

liquid and it drops out on the beaker
 NOTE
• The Porcelain boiling stones or glass beads are used to smoothen the boiling.

• The first few drops of liquid are discarded to make sure that any possible
impure liquid that may have a boiling point slightly lower than that of the
required liquid is not collected.

• The running tap must not be turned off before the flame is extinguished to
avoid breakage of the condenser if overheated.

• The thermometer shows a constant temperature during the distillation

process when pure solvent is being collected at the boiling point of the solvent.
 6. FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION
Separation of a mixture of miscible liquids (Solution of liquids) with
different boiling points can be done through fractional distillation.
 Experimental Procedure
 The mixture is heated.
 Discard the first few drops of the liquid collected.
 Collect the desired liquid (1st distillate) in the beaker until the temperature starts
to rise again.
 Repeat the distillation process and collect the 2nd liquid (and any other liquids)
when the next constant temperature reading is reached.
 Similarly, discard the first few drops of liquid collected.
 After all the desired distillates have been collected, turn off the flame and allow
the apparatus to cool down before the water tap is turned off.
 Uses of Fractional distillation.
Separation of liquid air into oxygen, nitrogen and other
useful gases.
Separation of crude oil into petrol, kerosene and other
useful components of crude oil.
Separation of fermented liquor into ethanol and water.
 NOTE

• The pure liquid that has the lowest boiling point will distill
off first. This is because the glass beads in the fractionating
column condense the liquids with higher boiling points
back into the flask, allowing the pure liquid with the
lowest boiling point to vaporize and distil off as the first
distillate.
 7. Chromatography
• It is a method used to separate a mixture of more than two solutes,
especially coloured compounds. It is also used to identify components of
mixtures
 Procedure

Chromatography paper has a base line (Start line) usually

drawn with a pencil. A pen is avoided to draw this line because
dyes in the ink will mix with the mixtures and it will affect the
result.
There will be solvent front at the top of the chromatography
paper. It is the maximum distance that can be travelled by the
dyes.
Procedure

A drop of mixture is applied just above the base line. If

the mixture is colourless, spray a locating agent (a
substance which can give colour to the components of
the mixture. Eg: Ninhydrin is the locating agent used in
the separation of amino acids from proteins.)
Procedure

Dip the chromatography paper into a suitable

solvent. The solvent will rise through the paper
through capillary action. The applied mixture will
dissolve in the solvent and the components will start
to separate at different regions.
 Retention factor
Calculate Rf value (Retention factor) for each separated
component or dye. Rf value is the ratio of distance travelled by
the component (substance) to the solvent front. Rf value for
each component will be unique. So, by knowing the Rf value,
we can identify the component.
Distance travelled by the substance
• Rf value=
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡
 Uses of Chromatography

 Identify a substance.
 Determine the purity of a substance.
 Separate two or more substances with different solubility
in the same solvent.
 Used in Forensic science and DNA tests.
• Used to identify the food colours
 Purity of a Substance

• Purity of a substance can be best identified by checking its

melting point, boiling point or freezing point. For eg: Pure
water boils at 100o C and freezes at 0oC. If the water is not
pure, its boiling point will be higher than 100oC and melting
point will be less than 0oC. That is impurity increases the
boiling point of a compound while lowers the melting point
of the substance.
 Uses of determining purity of substance in everyday life

• Measuring Purity of food stuffs, water and drugs are very

important in everyday life. Impure water, food stuffs or drugs
can cause many diseases. For food stuffs and drugs we can
use Paper Chromatography to identify if any impure
substance is added or not.
 Criteria of Purity

 A pure substance melts or boils at a fixed and constant temperature.

 Impurities lower the melting point or depress the freezing point of a
substance.
 Impurities [eg: salt] raises the boiling point of a liquid.
 All impure substances will melt or boil over a range of temperatures.
 Drugs if impure can make people ill.

• Food with impurities can cause poisoning and bacterial infection