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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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Copper sulphate, also known as cupric sulphate or copper (II) sulphate, is a chemical compound commonly used in chemistry experiments and in various industries. When dissolved in water, it forms a distinct blue solution. However, there are times when we need to extract pure copper sulfate from this solution, for example, in laboratory research, industrial…

Crystallization is another separation technique that chemists use to separate solids or soluble substances from their solutions. Generally, crystallization is a process that occurs when a substance solidifies from a liquid or precipitates out of a liquid or a gas. It is this process that chemists leverage in crystallization as a separation technique. Many solids…

As a chemist, you have numerous methods at your disposal to separate sand and salt. However, the simplest approach involves combining two basic separation techniques we’ve previously discussed: filtration and evaporation. Through filtration, you can isolate the sand from the saltwater solution. And by subjecting the saltwater solution to evaporation, you’ll recover the salt in…

Evaporation is the process through which liquid changes into vapor when heated. (The term vapor denotes a gas that can be condensed easily to liquid). It is one of the basic separation techniques in chemistry, which is majorly used to separate soluble solids from their solvents. For example, sodium chloride (common salt) readily dissolves in…