Experiment 8 — Separate the Mixture

Topic: Chemistry · Classes 4–5 · Separation of substances

Aim: Recover all four things from one messy jar: iron filings, sand, salt and clean water. Choose the right method for each.

Daily: Your kitchen is full of separation: sieving flour, straining tea leaves, settling rice in water, and drying salt from sea water. Every method matches a property of the thing you want.

Question: Salt water is poured through filter paper. What passes through?

Exp: Dissolved salt is broken into particles far too small to be trapped — filtering cannot separate a dissolved solid.

Question: Which method separates iron filings from sand?

Exp: The insoluble solid is trapped on the paper.

Question: How is sea salt obtained in coastal India?

Exp: Sun and wind evaporate the water, leaving the salt behind.

Question: Distillation is useful because it gives you…

Exp: The vapour is condensed to collect pure water.