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Separation of a Mixture of Solids

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PURPOSE The purpose of this experiment is to become familiar with the separation of mixtures of solid and learn separation techniques based on the chemical properties of a substance.

PROCEDURES
1. Separating out the Iron
a. Use your digital scale to determine the mass of your weighing dish.
b. Empty the entire mixture of solids from the plastic bag into the weighing dish and determine the gross mass of the total mixture and weighing dish. Compute the net mass of the mixture: this is equal to the gross mass of the weighing dish with the mixture less the mass of just the weighing dish determined in 1-A.
c. Spread the mixture into a very thin layer over a full sized piece of paper.
d. Cut a second piece of paper into a 10-cm square. …show more content…

5. Cleanup: Thoroughly clean, rinse, and dry all equipment and return it to the LabPaq. Throw all used paper cups and paper towels in the trash.

OBSERVATIONS, DATA, AND CALCULATIONS
Part 1
Mass of weighing dish = 0.5g
Total mixture = 7.5g
Net mass of mixture = 6.8g

Piece of paper = 0.8g
Iron fillings + paper = 2.7g
Net mass of Iron fillings = 1.9g

Part 2
Net mass of sand = 2.0g

Part 3
Paper cup mass = 6.2g
Filter paper = 1.0g
Filter paper + benzoic acid = 2.7g
Net mass of benzoic acid = 1.7g

Part 4
Paper cup + salt = 7.1g
Net mass of salt = 0.9g

Data Table 1: Experiment Data Grams Percent of mixture
Iron filings 1.9 27.94 %
Sand 2.0 29.41 %
Table salt 0.9 11.76 %
Benzoic acid 1.7 25.00 %
Total 6.5 95.59 %

QUESTIONS
A. How did your proposed procedures or flow charts at the beginning of this experiment compare to the actual procedures of this lab exercise?
It was similar to the procedure described. The only difference was the last step when separating out the Table Salt. I had proposed that we would have to heat the mixture instead of letting it evaporate.

B. Discuss potential advantages or disadvantages of your proposed procedure compared to the one actually used.
If heated, the salt and water mixture would not have formed any crystals and there would be a chance

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