How to Separate a Mixture of Sand & Water With Distillation, Filtration or Evaporation
Educators can use the separation of sand and water to illustrate a number of important scientific concepts to young learners. The separation method of filtration illustrates some of the differences between two states of matter; solid and liquid. With distillation and evaporation, students see a transition between the two phases of liquid and gas. It is generally helpful for students to learn about these techniques, since they are common methods of separating mixtures that students will encounter many times throughout their education.
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Things You'll Need
- Beakers
- Funnel
- Filter paper
- Round bottom flask
- 2 Ring stands and clamps
- Heating mantle
- Y-adapter
- Condensing tube
- Rubber hoses
- Hot plate
Instructions
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Filtration
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1
Place the funnel over top of an empty beaker. You can hold the funnel in place using a ring stand and clamps.
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2
Place a piece of conical filter paper into the funnel. You can either purchase conical paper, or fold a piece of circular paper into a cone shape.
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3
Stir the mixture of sand and water so the sand is momentarily dispersed in the water. Pour the mixture into the funnel, on top of the filter paper. Pour fairly quickly before the sand has a chance to settle, but take care not to overflow the funnel and also not to allow any water or sand to go between the filter paper and the funnel. The filter paper will catch the sand, and only pure water will drain into the beaker. At this stage, you can explain to students that the filter was able to remove the sand since it was not dissolved in the water. Basic filtration cannot remove dissolved chemicals, such as salt, in water.
Distillation
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4
Fill the round bottom flask about half full of the sand/water mixture. Hold it in place using a ring stand and clamp and place a heating mantle underneath.
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5
Place a Y adapter in the open neck of the flask and attach a condensing tube to the Y adapter, so the tube angles away and slightly downwards. Use another ring stand and clamps to support the tube. Place a beaker at the exit of the tube to catch distilled water.
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6
Attach a hose to a cold water source and then to the water inlet on the condensing tube. Attach another hose to the water outlet of the condensing tube and place the outlet of this hose into a drain. Turn on the water flow. Cold water will flow through the outer cooling jacket of the condensing tube.
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7
Turn on the heating mantle and heat the water until it begins to boil. Water vapor will form and move up the adapter and into the tube where it will condense back into liquid. The distilled water will flow down the tube and collect in the beaker. You can discuss with students the phase changes in the water as it moves from liquid to gas and back to liquid.
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8
Wait until approximately half the water has boiled over and turn off the heating mantle. Examine the collected distilled water to show that it has no sand.
Evaporation
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9
Place a portion of the sand/water mixture in an open beaker. Place the beaker on a hot plate.
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10
Slowly increase the heat output of the hot plate until the water is warm but not boiling. At this point, you may see a visible cloud of water vapor coming from the beaker. Again, you can discuss with students the phase change in water from liquid to gas and contrast this with the sand, which remains in the solid phase.
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11
Let the beaker sit on the hot plate until the water has completely evaporated. Remove the beaker and turn off the plate. When the beaker has cooled, examine the sand to demonstrate that it is dry and all water has been removed.
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Tips & Warnings
Use care when handling hot glassware during and after distillation and evaporation experiments.
References
Resources
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