The International School of Choueifat

Science Level J
Matter S1.4/ Section Review Questions

Section Review TB p. 29

1. What is a separation technique?

A separation technique is a technique used to recover the components of a
mixture.

2. Give the definition of the following: filtration, crystallization, and paper

chromatography.
Filtration is a technique used to separate a mixture containing an insoluble solid
from a liquid or a gas based on the different states of the components in the
mixture.
Crystallization is the process of isolating a solid from a solution by reducing the
amount of solvent in a saturated solution.
Paper chromatography is a technique used to separate different parts of a
mixture based on differences in the structures of their molecules.

3. What are the two steps of any distillation?

The 2 main steps are:
- Boiling a solution
- Condensing the resulting vapor
4. Why is filtration only useful for separating heterogeneous mixtures?
Filtration is only useful for separating heterogeneous mixtures since in this
process the liquid part of the mixture passes through a filter while the solid
portion (which is not soluble) remains on the surface of the filter.

5. You are provided with a mixture of table sugar, sand, and paper clips. How can
you separate the three components of this mixture?
First, a minimum amount of water is added to this mixture. Then the solid
fraction of the solution is recovered by filtration. This fraction contains the
insoluble part of the mixture: sand + paper clips. Paper clips are separated from
iron using a magnet. Sugar may be recovered from the solution by crystallization.

6. You are given a solution of 5 liquids with close boiling points. Propose a
separation technique to recover the components of this solution.
Fractional distillation.

7. How does simple distillation compare to fractional distillation?

Both use the 2 main steps which are boiling solution and condensing the
resulting vapor. However, in case of fractional distillation, which deals with
liquids with close boiling points, the fractionating column is packed with trays
filled with holes (or beads) to improve separation.