4 Separating Techniques

Learning Objective

• In this skill we will learn to identify different separation techniques and explain how they work.
• Distillation is used to separate liquids that have different boiling points. The liquid with the lower boiling point boils first, becoming separated from the liquid with the higher boiling point which gets left behind.
• Filtration is used to separate insoluble solids from liquids. The insoluble solid gets left in the filter, becoming separated from the liquid which goes through the filter.
• Magnetic is used to separate liquids that have different magnetic properties. The substance that is magnetic gets attracted to the magnet, becoming separated from the substance which is not magnetic which gets left behind.
• Chromatography is used to separate solids that have different solubilities, such as inks. The inks that are more soluble in water travel further up the paper as the water gets absorbed, becoming separated from the less soluble inks which travel less far up the paper.

Tips

• The most important thing to know about each separation technique is what property it uses to separate substances!