Physical Separation Methods for Mixtures: A Student's Guide
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17 cards
Question: What is sieving and how does it separate particles?
Answer: Sieving uses a mesh screen; smaller particles pass through the mesh while larger particles remain on top, separating by size.
Question: When is sieving commonly used?
Answer: To separate grains or powders of different sizes.
Question: What is filtering and what does it separate?
Answer: Filtering passes a mixture through a filter (paper, cloth, or porous membrane) to trap solid particles while the liquid or gas passes through.
Question: Where is filtering commonly used?
Answer: In laboratories to purify liquids or gases.
Question: What is hand sorting?
Answer: Manually picking materials out one by one to separate them.
Question: Give an example where hand sorting is commonly used.
Answer: Separating different types of seeds or rocks.
Question: What is settling (in separating mixtures)?
Answer: Allowing a mixture of solid particles in a liquid to stand undisturbed so solids settle to the bottom and the liquid stays on top.
Question: When is settling commonly used?
Answer: To separate sand or mud from water.
Question: What is decanting and how does it work?
Answer: Pouring the liquid off the top of a mixture so the liquid is separated from solid particles that remain at the bottom.
Question: Where is decanting commonly used?
Answer: To separate the supernatant liquid from precipitates in a laboratory setting.