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Chemistry for Kids

Separating Mixtures

Many of the substances we use everyday were actually once part of a mixture. Someone somewhere separated that substance from the mixture so we could use it. It turns out that many compounds and elements aren't found in nature in their pure form, but are found as parts of mixtures. Separating substances from mixtures is an important part of chemistry and modern industry.

Some important chemistry terms are used in this section including mixtures, suspensions, and solutions. You can click on the links to learn more about each of them.

Why do we want to separate mixtures?

All the way back to Ancient History, industrious humans have separated mixtures in order to obtain the specific substances that they need. One example of this is extracting metal from ore in order to make tools and weapons. We'll discuss some other examples of separation below.

Separation Processes

The way in which different substances in a mixture are separated is called a process. There are a number of different processes used for separation. Many of them are very complex and involve dangerous chemicals or high temperatures. A lot of important industries in the world today are based on separation processes.

Filtration

One common method of separation is filtration. Filters are used everywhere. We use them in our houses to filter dust and mites out of the air we breathe. We use them to filter impurities from our water. We even have filters in our bodies such as our kidneys which act as filters to get bad stuff out of our blood.

The filtration process is generally used to separate a suspension mixture where small solid particles are suspended in liquid or air. In the case of filtering water, the water is forced through a paper that is made up of a very fine mesh of fibers. The water that has been run through the filter is called the filtrate. The particles that are removed from the water by the filter are called the residue.

Filtration diagram showing residue and filtrate

Distillation

Another common separation process is called distillation. Distillation uses boiling to separate mixtures of liquid solutions. It takes into account that different substances in the mixture will have different boiling points.

For example, if you heat salt water the water in the solution will boil before the salt. The water will then evaporate leaving the salt behind. If the steam from the water is collected it will turn back into liquid as it cools. This cooled water will be pure water without any salt.

Centrifuge

In some cases, there are suspension mixtures where the solid particles are too fine to be separated with a filter. In these cases, sometimes a centrifuge is used. Centrifuges are mechanical devices that spin at very high speeds. These high speeds allow the solid particles in suspensions to settle very quickly. For example, rather than wait for sand to slowly settle to the bottom of water, a centrifuge can cause the sand to settle in a matter of seconds.

Some examples of how centrifuges are used include separating blood into plasma and red cells, separating cream from milk, and separating uranium isotopes for nuclear power plants.

The heavier particles move to the outside
of the cylinder as the centrifuge spins
allowing the mixture to be separated.

Other Processes

There are many other separation processes such as sublimation, adsorption, crystallization, and chromatography. Sometimes it takes many stages of processes to get to the final result. One example of this is the processing of crude oil. Crude oil uses many levels of fractional distillation to produce a number of different products including gasoline, jet fuel, propane gas, and heating oil.

Interesting Facts about Separating Mixtures
Activities

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More Chemistry Subjects

Matter
Atom
Molecules
Isotopes
Solids, Liquids, Gases
Melting and Boiling
Chemical Bonding
Chemical Reactions
Radioactivity and Radiation
Mixtures and Compounds
Naming Compounds
Mixtures
Separating Mixtures
Solutions
Acids and Bases
Crystals
Metals
Salts and Soaps
Water
Other
Glossary and Terms
Chemistry Lab Equipment
Organic Chemistry
Famous Chemists

Elements and the Periodic Table
Elements
Periodic Table

Science >> Chemistry for Kids


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