SEPARATION METHODS

FILTRATION
USED TO SEPARATE A SOLID FROM A LIQUID
• A solid can be separated from a liquid by FITRATION.
e.g. soil can be separated from water by filtering .
•The soil is trapped in the filter paper while the water
passes through.
• The soil is called the RESIDUE.
•The water that passes through the filter paper is called
FILTRATE.
•On a commercial scale, filtration is used at water works
to purify water
 CENTRIFUGATION
• A CENTRIFUGE is used to
remove small solids suspended
in a liquid.
•Inside the centrifuge, test
tubes are spun very fast, so the
solids get flung to the bottom.
The liquid is poured out of the test tubes or
removed with a small pipette. The solid is left
behind. The process is used to analyse blood
samples in hospitals.
 EVAPORATION
• This method is mainly used to obtain salt
from aqueous solution.
If the mixture is a solution, the solids
cannot be separated by filtering, or
centrifuging, because its tiny particles are
spread all through the solvent.
• Instead the solution is heated to evaporate
the solvent.
•The solid is left behind.
 CRYSTALLISATION
• Crystallisation is a process of
formation of solid particles from a
solution.
• The solid particles are called crystals.
Example
To obtain crystals of copper(II)
sulphate from solution.
• A solution of copper(II) sulphate
is heated to get rid of some
water.
• As the water evaporates, the
solution becomes more
concentrated
• Then the solution is left to
cool and crystallise.
• The crystals are removed by
filtering, rinsed with a little
distilled water and dried with
filter paper.
 SEPARATING A MIXTURE OF TWO SOLIDS

• You can separate two solids by

choosing a solvent that will dissolve
one of them.
• E.g. a mixture of salt and sand.
• Water dissolves salt but not sand.
• So you can separate them like this:
• Add water to the mixture.
• The salt dissolves.
• Filter the mixture. The sand is
trapped in the filter paper,
but the salt solution passes
through.
• Evaporate the salt solution
until salt is left.
 SIMPLE DISTILLATION

This is used to obtain the solvent

from SOLUTION . It could be used to
obtain water from salt water, like
this:
• The solution is heated in the flask.
• It boils and steam rises into the
condenser.
•The salt is left behind.
• The condenser is cold, so the
steam CONDENSES to water in it.
• The water drops in the beaker. It
is called DISTILLATE.
• This method can be used to get
drinking water from sea water.
 FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION

• This method is used to

separate a mixture of many
miscible liquids.
• It makes use of their
different boiling points .e.g a
mixture of water and ethanol.
 These are the steps:
• The mixture is heated. At 780C, the
ethanol begins to boil.
• Some water evaporates too, at that
temperature.
• So mixture of ethanol vapour and
water vapour rises up the column.
• The vapour condenses on the glass
beads in the column, making them hot.
• When the beads reach about 780C,
ethanol vapour no longer
condenses on them.
• Only the water vapour does.
• So water drips back in the flask,
while the ethanol vapour goes into
the condenser.
• There it condenses.
• Pure liquid ethanol drips into the
beaker.
• Eventually, the thermometer
reading rises above 78 C. 0

• This is a sign that all the ethanol

has gone.
• So heating can be stopped
 USES OF FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION IN
INDUSTRY
• To refine crude oil.
• To produce ethanol(alcohol) from
fermented sugar.
• To manufacture oxygen and
nitrogen from liquid air.
 SUBLIMATION
• Sublimation is a process in which a
solid changes directly to a gas and
vice-versa without passing through
the liquid state.
• Examples of substances that can
sublime are solid carbon dioxide,
iodine and ammonium chloride .
• A mixture of sand and solid iodine
can be separated by the process of
sublimation.
• The mixture is heated and the
iodine sublimes(changes directly to
gas ),and solid crystals of
iodine(sublimate) collect on the
outside of the cold evaporating
dish.
ALTERNATIVE APPARATUS
 FLOTATION
Floatation
is used to separate insoluble substances
with different densities eg in the mining
industry and manufacture of soap
• Example: copper is mixed with sand, rocks
and clay
• The copper ore is crushed and mixed with
water. A froth agent is added.
• A froth agent is a substance that allows
the mixture to form small bubbles called
(froth).
• This allows the ore to rise and mix with
the froth.
• The froth ore floats while the impurities
sink to the bottom.
• The froth is removed and acid is added to
break it up.
• The mineral ore is then filtered off.
 MAGNETIC SEPARATION
• The method is used to separate
magnetic scrap metals from non
magnetic materials, especially in
industries.
 PAPER CHROMATOGRAPHY
Chromatography is a process used to
separate substances that have
different solubilities in a given solvent
The method is used to : 
• find how many different coloured
substances there are in a dye
• identify amino acids
.
 PRINCIPLES OF CHROMATOGRAPHY

• Different substances have different

solubilities in the same solvent
• The more soluble substance will be
carried further by the solvent
compared to the less soluble one
TYPES OF PAPER CHROMATOGRAPHY

ASCENDING CHROMATOGRAPHY-
in which the solvent travels up
the paper.
The mixture to be separated
must be placed above the solvent
or it will dissolve in the solvent
and will not be separated.
• The container is closed by a lid
to ensure that the air in the
container is saturated with the
vapour.
• This prevents the solvent moving
along the paper from
evaporating quickly and making
the results inaccurate.
 DESCENDING CHROMATOGRAPHY
• The solvent moves down
the paper.
•The solvent moves faster
since it is aided by the force
of gravity.
• Longer sheet of paper should be
used in the descending method
because the solvent moves faster
and a longer distance is covered.
• Hence a longer paper to ensure
complete separation of the dyes.
 LOCATING AGENTS IN CHROMATOGRAPHY

• When a substance to be analysed appears

colourless on the chromatogram, a locating
agent which forms coloured compounds with
the colourless substances can be sprayed
onto the chromatogram to locate the
position of the colourless substance.
•Examples of common locating agents used
in the laboratory are NINHYDRIN and
IODINE.
Then the Rf value of the solute is determined. 
Rf stands for Retention factor 
Rf = distance moved by the solute
distance moved by the solvent
Example 1
A dye moves a distance of 3cm and the solvent
moves a distance of 6cm.What is its Rf value? 
Rf = 3cm
6cm 
= 0.5
 Example 2
• Concentrated solutions of X,
A,B, C and D are made up in
ethanol. A spot of each is
placed on a start line, on a
sheet of paper and labelled.
• The paper is stood in a little
ethanol, in a covered glass
tank.
• The solvent rises up the paper.
• When it is near the top, the
paper is taken out again.
• The paper appears like this:
• X has separated into three
spots.
• Two are at the same height
as A and B, so X must contain
substances A , B and D, but
not C.
 EXERCISE
1 The diagram below shows a chromatogram
obtained using solutions of three single dyes
(blue, green and red) and four other solutions (A,
B, C and D).
Which of the solutions, A, B, C or D, contains the
following
(i) one dye only
 
(ii)three of the dyes
 
(iii) green and red only
 
(iv) a dye other than blue, green and red?
2 In preparing the chromatogram, the following
instructions were given. Suggest a reason for each
instruction.
 
(i) The starting line should be drawn with a pencil
rather than with ink.
 
(ii) At the end of the experiment, the solvent front
should be near the top of the paper.
 
(iii) The spots of solutions and dyes on the starting
line should be small
3 The diagram below represents two methods for
paper chromatography. In the descending method,
the solvent flows down the paper and in the
ascending method, the solvent travels up the
paper.
  
(a) In which method will the solvent travel the faster?
Give a reason for your answer.
 
(b) Why must the start line be above the solvent level
in the ascending method?
 
(c) For both methods, the container is closed with a
lid. Why is this necessary?
 
(d) Longer sheets of paper can be used in the
descending method than in the ascending method. Why
the longer piece of paper is often preferred?
4 In order to compare the impurities
present in the electrodes from two lead-
acid batteries, samples from the
electrodes were dissolved in a suitable
acid and the resulting solutions were
chromatographed, together with
solutions containing five known metal
ions.
5 After treating with a locating agent, the
chromatograms were as shown below.
  
(a) (i)What is the advantage of using a
locating gent in this experiment?
 
(ii) Were the tow electrode from the
same manufacturer? Give a reason for
your answer.
 
(b) In a chromatogram, the Rf value of an ion is defined
as:
 
Rf = distance travelled by the ‘spot’ of the iron
Distance travelled by the solvent
 
In this chromatogram, the Rf value for Pb2+ is 3 = 0.25
12
(i)What is the Rf value for Cu2+?
 
(ii) Add to the diagram the ‘spot’ for Fe2, which has an
Rf value of 0.75
 EXERCISE

Select from the following list, one method by which

each of the following may be separated from the
stated mixture. You may use a method once, more
than once, or not at all.
 
Chromatography electrolysis
Precipitation crystallization
Filtration reduction
Distillation oxidation
Sublimation synthesis
(a)Red dye from a mixture of red and blue dyes in
solution
 
(b) Oxygen from liquid air
 
(c)Insoluble Barium sulphate from a mixture of
ammonium chloride and sodium chloride
 
(d) Amino acids from a mixture obtained by the
hydrolysis of a protein
2 A student heated some solid ammonium
chloride, NH4Cl, in a test tube. Ammonia gas and
one other gas were formed. He tested the gases
coming out of the test tube with litmus paper.
The litmus paper quickly turned blue.
A few seconds later, both pieces of litmus
paper turned red.
 
(a) Name the process which causes the
gases to move along the tube
 
(b) Which gas turned the litmus paper
blue? 
(c) Which gas turned the litmus paper red?