Kevin

Magnetic separation is used to separate solid mixtures containing magnetic and non-magnetic components. The separation technique relies on the magnetic properties of certain materials, which allows them to be attracted to magnets. In a magnetic separation process, a mixture containing magnetic and non-magnetic materials is brought closer to a magnetic or a magnetic field. The … Read more

Chromatography is another separation method that can be used to separate two or more solid components of a solution based on their different rates of movement over an absorbent material. It was originally used to separate colored pigments from plants hence the term chromatography, which is derived from the Greek word “chromos” meaning color. Today, … Read more

Sublimation is the direct transition of a solid into vapor on heating without passing through liquid state. This occurs when the vapor pressure of the solid exceeds atmospheric pressure at a certain temperature. The opposite of sublimation i.e the transition from vapor directly to solid, is called Deposition. The solid formed when the vapor cools … Read more

Solvent extraction is a separation technique that is used to separate components of a mixture based on their solubility in different solvents. It is also referred to as liquid-liquid extraction. Here is how it works: the mixture is first dissolved in a solvent, and then another immiscible solvent is added. The desired compound selectively dissolves … Read more

After learning about distillation in the previous section, you might be wondering about its practical applications. Well, distillation plays a critical role in many industrial processes, particularly those involving the purification of substances, concentration of solutions, and extraction of valuable components from complex mixtures. Here are some of the areas where distillation is applied in … Read more

Key Takeaways: Distillation is a separation technique that’s commonly used to separate components of miscible solutions by exploiting differences in their boiling points. It involves heating a liquid mixture to its boiling point to vaporize the more volatile components and then cooling the vapor to condense it back into liquid form. The condensed liquid, known … Read more

Another separation technique that we can use to separate mixtures is the use of a separating funnel. In particular, a separating funnel can be used to separate a mixture containing two or more immiscible liquids. Immiscible liquids don’t mix. Instead, they form layers with the denser liquid sitting at the bottom of the funnel and … Read more