Question

You are provided a mixture containing sand, iron fillings, ammonium chloride and sodium chloride. Describe the procedures you would use to separate these constituents from the mixture?

Answer 1

The given mixture contains iron fillings, ammonium chloride, sodium chloride and sand. The sand particles are not soluble in water whereas sodium chloride is soluble. The iron filings are attracted by magnets.

Complete step by step answer:
It is given that the mixture contains sand, iron fillings, ammonium chloride and sodium chloride.
To separate the individual components from mixture, different separation techniques have been employed.
Magnetic separation: The magnetic separation is used to remove the iron fillings present in the mixture. With the help of a magnet, the iron fillings are removed from the mixture as the magnet attracts the iron filling.
Sublimation: In sublimation, the compound present in solid state changes directly into the gaseous state skipping the middle state that is liquid. The ammonium chloride is in solid form which on heating changes to gaseous state and through the condensation process, the vapours are condensed and solid crystals are again recovered.
Filtration: Filtration is a separation technique in which the solid component present in the liquid is separated by a filtration flask using a filter paper. The solid particles get settled in the filter paper and the liquid passes through the filter paper and gets collected in the flask. In the mixture of sand and sodium chloride water is added, the sodium chloride being soluble in water dissolves while the sand remains undissolved. The sand is removed by the process of filtration.
Evaporation: The filtrate of sodium chloride is then evaporated to remove the excess water and get the crystals of sodium chloride.

Note: Ammonium chloride and sodium chloride both are salts and present in solid form but only ammonium chloride sublimes as it is a basic salt and sodium chloride is a neutral salt.