In this chemistry experiment are objective was to separate the following materials depending on their physical properties. The materials are as follow; sand, salt, lead and iron.

Essay by zeledon123High School, 11th gradeA+, October 2004

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In this chemistry experiment are objective was to separate the following materials depending on their physical properties. The materials are as follow; sand, salt, lead and iron. We had to use the following materials to separate each after they had been mixed together. The materials were; 2 water beakers, a magnate, a aluminum screen, a long pointed spatula, and a cylinder filter. After separating each material, we put them in their own separate bag.

Then after the instructor had mixed all the materials together we were sent to the lab to separate each of them, by using each special physical property. First we separated the most noticeable and biggest material that was the lead bebes, we used the aluminum screen. The sand, salt, and iron were much smaller than the lead bebes, so they fell into the other empty water beaker after passing through the aluminum screen.

Then their was a mixture of sand, salt and iron in a small empty water beaker, our group then decided to separate the iron by using a magnet. We used a magnate because we knew it had a charge and it was attracted to the magnate. Then after separating it we placed it into a small plastic bag that had been handed to us.

The only materials that were left were sand and salt everyone knows that those materials are extremely hard to separate when they are mixed together. They could not be separated one by one; our group then discovered that it could be separated if it would get mixed with water. The salt would dissolve into the water, while the sand would be left behind. From that point on it was all easy sailing. We then used a cylinder filter to separate the water from the sand and the rest was just waiting for the water to evaporate. Then after their was only salty liquid in one beaker and sand in the other we just passed it to the instructor so he would place it in a small heater so the water would evaporate in a more rapid rate. Then after the water had evaporated we would just place it in their own bags and turn them in.

In conclusion this experiment could only be done by knowing the physical properties of the materials and realizing each of their special traits, to successfully separate each one. I hope to do other experiments like this later on in this chemistry class because this showed me that things are not as hard as they sound if you take the time to think about it carefully.