Science

Grade 6 • Unit 2: Preparing and Separating Mixtures

LESSON 2.1
Methods of Separating Homogeneous Mixtures
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Learning Competency 2

Learning Objectives 2

Warm-Up 2

Learn about It 4
Preparation of Solid-Solid Mixtures 4
Preparation of Liquid-Liquid Mixtures 7
Preparation of Solid-Liquid Mixtures 9
Separating Solid-Liquid Components of Homogeneous Mixtures 11
Evaporation 11
Crystallization 12
Separating Liquid-Liquid Components of Homogeneous Mixtures 13
Distillation 13
Chromatography 14
Applications of Separating Homogeneous Mixtures 15

Key Points 17

Check Your Understanding 17

Bibliography 23
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Grade 6 • Unit 2: Preparing and Separating Mixtures

Lesson 2.1
Methods of Separating Homogeneous
Mixtures

Coffee is an example of a homogeneous mixture.

Introduction
Some individuals, especially workaholic persons, like coffee so much as it brings out energy
boosters to make them awake when they are sleepy during working hours. Coffee is an
example of a homogeneous mixture. Do you ever wonder how to separate the coffee
substance and water mixture? How about those ready-to-drink coffee?
In this lesson, we will enumerate some methods used to separate the components of a
homogeneous mixture.

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Grade 6 • Unit 2: Preparing and Separating Mixtures

Learning Competency
At the end of this lesson, the given DepEd learning competency should be met
by the students.
● Describe techniques in separating mixtures, such as decantation,
evaporation, filtering, sieving, and using magnet. (S6MTId-f-2)

Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● Explain how solid-solid, liquid-liquid, and solid-liquid mixtures are
prepared.
● Describe the different methods of separating the components of a
homogeneous mixture.
● Explain the importance of different techniques used to separate
homogeneous mixtures in industrial processes.

Warm-Up

Separating Homogeneous Mixtures

Materials
● water
● salt
● soda
● measuring cup
● cooking pot
● stove

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Procedure
A. Separating Salt and Water
1. Weigh around 18 grams of table salt in a beaker and then dissolve it in 50 mL of
water. Stir the solution thoroughly. Make sure that all the solids dissolve in water.
2. Transfer 20 mL of the resulting mixture in another container.
3. Heat the mixture to dryness and then observe what appears in the container.

B. Separating Water from Soda

1. Freeze a bottle of soda in the refrigerator. You can already freeze the soda prior to
this activity.
2. Partially thaw the soda to the point that you can see ice chunks that are relatively
clear.
3. Separate the ice from the rest of the liquid.
4. Completely thaw the ice. Let it melt and then observe the color of the resulting liquid.
5. Compare the color of the melted ice to the liquid that was separated earlier.

Guide Questions
1. What is left after evaporating water in part A?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How will you describe the material produced in part A of this activity? Describe its
properties in detail.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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Grade 6 • Unit 2: Preparing and Separating Mixtures

3. List down the differences in the two liquids separated in part B. What do you think
are the identities of these liquids?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn about It

Preparation of Solid-Solid Mixtures

When solid substances are mechanically mixed together, a solid-solid mixture is formed.
This mixture may be homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending on the visibility of each
component. Solid-solid mixtures are often formed when preparing medicines and food.

Herbs that are used for cooking are sometimes mixed together to form a more flavorful
ingredient. Since these solid substances do not necessarily dissolve in one another, physical
processes like tumbling and crushing are used to ensure that the components are evenly
distributed. As a result, a heterogeneous mixture of herbs is formed. This is also how
medicinal leaves are prepared before boiling them to get their extracts.

Fig. 1. A heterogeneous mixture of herbs

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Another example of the preparation of a solid heterogeneous mixture is a 3-in-1 instant

coffee mix. In this solid heterogeneous mixture, coffee powder, sugar, and creamer powder
are pre measured and mixed together evenly. Each component differs in shape, size, and
especially color. The mixture is then packaged into sachets and is ready for consumption.
Variants from black coffee to white coffee are available in the market.

Fig. 2. A 3-in-1 coffee sachet

Some solids, when mixed together form homogeneous mixtures. This is especially true
when the appearance of each component is similar in size, color, and texture. A good
example of this is when you mix the dry ingredients in making bread dough. Flour, baking
powder, and a pinch of salt form a uniform appearance when mixed. When water and eggs
are added into it, it will form a soft solid dough which is heated in an oven to bake it.

bread dough medicine

Fig. 3. Bread dough and medicines are examples of homogeneous mixtures.

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Medicines in the form of tablets are also solid homogeneous mixtures. The solid
components of this mixture are the active ingredient, solid fillers, and binders. These solid
components are crushed to even particle sizes and then tumbled together to mix evenly.
Afterwards, they are compacted to the shape of a tablet and packed individually.

Some solid homogeneous mixtures are prepared by melting the components first before
mixing them together. Melting is the application of heat to a solid, so it changes to a liquid
above a temperature called the melting point. Upon cooling, the solid solution is made.

Melting is a technique used in creating alloys or homogeneous mixtures of metals. Gold

jewelry are alloys made of steel and gold that are melted together. Cooking utensils, metal
casings, and some electronic parts are made of alloys too. Melting is also used in mixing
waxes together to form products like furniture wax.

Fig. 4. A ring made of steel and gold melted together

Preparation of Liquid-Liquid Mixtures

Liquid-liquid mixtures are also important in preparing food, drinks, and medicines. Liquid
mixtures are prepared by mixing two different liquid components. Homogeneous liquid
mixtures from liquid solutions. Aqueous solutions are solutions where water is used as a
solvent. Heterogeneous liquid mixtures, however, form colloids specifically called emulsions.

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To prepare a liquid-liquid solution, a liquid solute is simply added to a liquid solvent. An

example of a homogeneous liquid-liquid solution is the preparation of alcohol disinfectants.
Liquid ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol is first acquired as a high concentration mixture.
Concentration refers to the amount of solute dissolved in a certain amount of solvent. The
most commercially available form of ethyl alcohol with high purity is 95% ethyl alcohol. To
produce a 70% solution that is usually found in pharmacies and supermarkets, liquid water
is added and mixed as a solvent, to dilute the ethyl alcohol to the right concentration.
Dilution is the addition of water, or other solvents, to reduce the concentration of a
solution.

Fig. 5. A 70% alcohol solution

To prepare a heterogeneous liquid-liquid mixture or an emulsion, the components should

not form a solution when mixed together. Emulsions rely on stabilizing agents, also called
emulsifiers so that they can mix together to form a colloid. For example, oil and water are
immiscible, meaning they do not mix together. When soap is added to the oil and water
mixture, it acts as an emulsifier and forms a colloid.

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Fig. 6. Oil and water mix with soap acting as an emulsifier

Another example of an emulsion is mayonnaise, which is an emulsion made from oil, egg
yolks and vinegar. Vinegar is primarily an acid dissolved in water. By mixing vigorously, oil is
suspended in water from the egg yolk and vinegar solution. The proteins found in egg yolk
acts as the emulsifier that prevents the separation of water and oil. Thus, it allows the
colloid to form. Like mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard are also emulsions.

Fig. 7. Examples of condiments that are colloids

Preparation of Solid-Liquid Mixtures

To prepare a solid-liquid mixture, mix solid components with the liquids. Homogeneous
solid-liquid mixtures form solutions while nonuniform solid-liquid mixtures form
suspensions and colloids. Solid-liquid solutions are prepared by dissolving a solid solute into
a liquid solvent. Many solutions of this type exist in everyday life. For example, when
powdered chocolate drink is dissolved in water and stirred. Stirring increases the speed at
which a solute dissolves in a solvent.

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chocolate drink hot tea

Fig. 8. Powdered chocolate drinks and hot tea are examples of solutions.

Solid-liquid solutions are also formed through boiling or heating. Heating involves raising
the temperature of the solvent to be able to extract the components of the solute. For
example, when preparing herbal medicines, like lagundi, the leaves are boiled so that its
components are extracted and dissolved in the heated solvent. Heating the solvent allows
the solute to be better dissolved in it. Another example of this is when you prepare brewed
coffee or tea.

Crushing, or reducing the particle size of a solid solute, will also help increase the rate of
dissolving of solids in liquids. Smaller particle size will enable the solute to come into contact
more often with solvent particles, making it easier for them to dissolve. Crushing the
medicinal leaves and boiling them with a hot solvent, will speed up the preparation of
herbal medicines.

Fig. 9. Crushing leaves to reduce the particle size

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Heterogeneous solid-liquid mixtures are formed when the solid is naturally insoluble in the
liquid and yet they are mixed together. These heterogeneous mixtures either form a
suspension or a colloid. In a suspension, components separate over time and two phases.
On the other hand, insoluble solids are simply suspended in the dispersing medium in a
colloid. Preparing colloids requires solid particle sizes to be small enough to be dispersed,
and stabilizing agents to prevent separation of solids and the dispersing medium.

An example of a solid-liquid suspension is sand underneath the sea. The sand does not get
dissolved in the water. When agitated, sand briefly suspends in the water then settles down
over time. Forming these suspensions is very useful in applications like water treatment. In
water treatment, an insoluble solid like activated charcoal is allowed to suspend in polluted
water. The pollutants in water stick to the activated charcoal so that when separation
occurs, the water becomes free of the pollutants and can be safely reused.

Remember
The following methods make the dissolution of solid in liquid faster:
1. Stirring, shaking, or agitating
2. Heating the mixture
3. Reducing the size or increasing the surface area of the solid solute

An example of a solid-liquid colloid, or liquid sol, is paint. In paint, solid insoluble pigments
are crushed and suspended in the liquid medium of the paint (often water). In addition,
suspended pigments are better able to protect surfaces from UV radiation damage, because
they make the mixture cloudy because of the Tyndall effect. The Tyndall effect is a
characteristic of colloids. Light scatters as it hits the particles suspended in colloids.

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Fig. 10. Paint is an example of a colloid.

Essential Question
What are some ways to separate homogeneous mixtures?

Separating Solid-Liquid Components of Homogeneous Mixtures

Evaporation
It is the process of turning liquids into vapor (gas) by heating. In this process, a solid and
liquid solution is heated until it boils. Once the solution boils, the liquid solvent starts to
evaporate and leaves behind solid solutes. The case for solid solvent and liquid solute
separation can also take advantage of evaporation.

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Fig. 11. Evaporation method is often used to separate salt from seawater.

Crystallization

Crystallization is a separation method wherein a liquid substance changes into a solid

form. It usually happens when the liquid from a solution has evaporated to a point beyond
the solubility limit (Madamba 2016, 77). Solubility is the ability of a substance to dissolve in
a given amount of solvent at a specific temperature. Solid crystals will then grow out of the
solution because the solution is too concentrated for all the solids to remain dissolved at
that temperature.

Crystallization is often done from a hot concentrated solution because most substances are
more soluble when the liquid is hot (Madamba 2016, 77). Consequently, on cooling it,
crystals form as the solubility gets less and less.

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Did You Know?

Rock candy is one of the oldest and purest forms of candy. It was originally
used by pharmacists to make medicines for many kinds of illnesses. To
make this candy, the sugar and water solution undergo crystallization.
(Weebly, n.d.)

Separating Liquid-Liquid Components of Homogeneous Mixtures

Distillation

Distillation is a separation technique that makes use of the difference in boiling points
between two liquids. In order for the technique to work, the components should have a
large enough difference in boiling points so that when one component boils, the other
remains as a liquid. The boiling liquid vapor is then condensed and collected into another
container to separate the two components.

Fig. 12. A distilling flask is used to contain the mixture that will be distilled. This flask is
connected to a condenser where the vapor is collected.

In the case of acetone and water solution, acetone has a lower boiling point (560 ℃)
compared with water (100 ℃). When the solution is boiled, the acetone vapor boils and

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evaporates first, leaving the water in the flask. The acetone vapor cannot escape as the flask
is connected to a condenser. When the cold water gets in the condenser, acetone vapor
cools down until it turns into liquid again. The acetone will then be collected to the other
container, fully separated from the water. The collected pure acetone is known as the
distillate or the product of distillation. This process is often used to separate crude oil to
different fuels, such as gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oil.

Chromatography
Chromatography is a separation technique that heavily relies on the differences in solubility
of each solute in a solvent.

The two important phases in chromatography are the mobile phase, which is the solvent,
and the stationary phase, which is an absorbent material that holds the liquid solution still.
As the stationary phase is an absorbent material, it allows the mobile phase to pass through
it and travel along. As the mobile phase runs through the stationary phase, the components
of the liquid solution separate based on their solubility in the given solvent. Liquid solutes
that have high solubility in the mobile phase will go along with the mobile phase as it travels
on the stationary phase. On the other hand, liquid solutes that have low solubility will tend
to remain where they are.

Below is an illustration of a paper chromatography setup, which makes use of paper as the
stationary phase, and a solvent (water) as the mobile phase.

Fig. 13. A paper chromatography setup

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In paper chromatography, the mobile phase runs through the paper upward, and the
components of the ink solution separate into its component dyes. The result of a
chromatography experiment is called a chromatogram, which is a visual record of the
result. One can see from the illustration that the yellow dye component in black ink has the
highest solubility in the mobile phase, while the purple dye component has the least
solubility among the ink’s dye components.

Applications of Separating Homogeneous Mixtures

Separation techniques find great use in a variety of different industries. In the chemical and
pharmaceutical industry, separation techniques are used to purify chemicals to acceptable
standards. For example, in order for a medicine to be acceptable for use, it has to be
purified to remove extremely toxic chemicals that were used to manufacture it. Medicines
like paracetamol or aspirin, are recrystallized from solution to bring it to acceptable
standards.

Fig. 14. Recrystallized aspirin tablets

A refinery is an industrial site that is used to refine substances like oil, alcohol, and other
substances. In this place, distillation is often used as a method to purify products. In the
petroleum industry, crude oil is distilled to gasoline, kerosene and other petroleum
products in order to be acceptable for applications. Petroleum products are used as fuel
which is essential to the production of many other products and support a comfortable way
of modern living.

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Fig. 15. A refinery where petroleum products are purified

Key Points

● There are three different types of mixtures based on their components: solid-solid
mixtures, liquid-liquid mixtures, and solid-liquid mixtures.
● Each type of mixture can be a homogeneous or heterogeneous mixture, depending
on the property of each material being mixed.
● Homogeneous solid-liquid mixtures may be separated using evaporation and
crystallization.
○ In evaporation, a solid and liquid solution is heated until it boils. Once the
solution boils, the liquid solvent starts to evaporate and leaves behind solid
solutes.
○ Crystallization is done by cooling down a solution to lower the solubility of
the solute components until crystals are formed.
● Homogeneous liquid-liquid mixtures may be separated using distillation and
chromatography.
○ In order for distillation to work, the components should have a large enough

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difference in boiling points so that when one component boils, the other
remains as a liquid.
○ Chromatography is a separation technique that heavily relies on the
differences in solubility of each solute in a solvent.
○ Chromatography has two important phases: the mobile phase, which is the
solvent, and the stationary phase, which is an absorbent material that holds
the liquid solution still.
● Separating homogeneous mixtures plays an important role in several industrial
processes.

Check Your Understanding

A. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, write false.

___________________ 1. Increasing the temperature increases the rate of

dissolution of solids in liquids.

___________________ 2. Tyndall effect is the ability of homogeneous mixtures to

scatter light.

___________________ 3. Preparing mixtures by agitation only works for a solid-liquid

mixture.

___________________ 4. Immiscible liquids are liquids that do not mix and form two
layers.

___________________ 5. Activated charcoal does not dissolve in water and therefore

is heterogeneous.

___________________ 6. Alloys are prepared by melting the metals before mixing.

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___________________ 7. Emulsifiers help in separating the components of a colloid.

___________________ 8. Crushing helps in preparing liquid-liquid mixtures.

___________________ 9. Colloid particles are big enough to settle at the bottom of a

mixture.

___________________ 10. Dilution is the amount of solute that is soluble in a

particular solvent.

B. Identify the words being described in each statement.

___________________ 1. It is the output obtained from a chromatography

experiment.

___________________ 2. It is the solvent used in chromatography.

___________________ 3. It is the collected pure substance after distillation.

___________________ 4. It is the ability of a substance to dissolve another

substance, which is the basis for crystallization.

___________________ 5. It refers to the adsorbent material that holds the solvent in

chromatography.

___________________ 6. It is the laboratory apparatus used in distillation.

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C. Match the techniques in column A and the descriptions in column B.

Column A Column B

_________ 1. evaporation a. involves a mobile phase and a

stationary phase

_________ 2. distillation b. involves the separation of a

solid solute from a liquid
solvent

_________ 3. crytallization c. a method where the difference

in boiling point is used to
separate the components

_________ 4. paper chromatography d. a method where the difference

in melting point is used to
separate the components

D. How would you separate the components of the following homogeneous mixtures?
Write your answer in the blank provided.

1. instant coffee drink 2. honey

_____________________ _____________________

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3. perfume 4. cartridge ink

_____________________ _____________________

5. alcoholic beverage 6. highlighter ink

_____________________ _____________________

7. saltwater 8. plant pigment

_____________________ _____________________

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9. crude oil 10. vinegar

_____________________ _____________________

E. Name some of the techniques used in the following industrial processes.

______________________ 1. desalinating sea water for consumption

______________________ 2. extracting flavors from plant sources

______________________ 3. extracting essential oil for perfumes

______________________ 4. separating kerosene and gasoline from fossil fuels

______________________ 5. purification of drugs

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Bibliography

Brown, Theodore L. et al. 2015. Chemistry: The Central Science. Boston: Pearson.

McHenry, Garrett A. “Rock Candy Crystals.” Weebly. Accessed October 28, 2021.
https://garrettamchenry.weebly.com/fun-facts.html.

“Mixing and Separating”. Education Services Australia. Accessed May 8, 2017.

http://scienceweb.asta.edu.au/verve/_resources/asta_5-1-1_bi_mixing_yr7_v1_2.pdf.

“Separation of Mixtures Using Different Techniques”. Amrita University. Accessed May 8,

2017. http://amrita.olabs.edu.in/?sub=73&brch=2&sim=96&cnt=1.

Silberberg, Martin. 2009. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 5th edition.

“What Are Mixtures and Solutions?”. Elmhurst College. Accessed May 2, 2017.
http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/106Amixture.html.

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