Separating a mixture

Aim: To create a compound of sand, salt and water and separate them again

Hypothesis: The amount of sand and salt after separating the compound should be the same as what
was started off with.

Equipment:

1 gram of salt
1 gram of sand
Denim water
Bunsen Burner
Safety glasses
Filter paper (2.20 grams)
2 beakers
Funnel
Retort stand
Retort Ring
Stirring rod
Matches
Evaporating dish (205.09) grams
Electric balance
bench mat
Gauze mat
tripod

Method:

1. The apparatus was set up like in the images above

2. The sand salt and about 30 grams of denim water was mixed in a beaker with the stirring
rod, until the salt was completely dissolved
3. The solution was poured into the filter paper in the funnel in setup 1
4. The mixing beaker was washed out with more denim water, and the solution was poured
into the funnel
5. The stirring rod was used to lightly stir the mixture in the filter funnel, to help filter the
mixture
6. The filter funnel was washed with some denim water, so that there were no remnants of salt
left
7. The sand was left in the filter paper to dry
8. The rest of the solution was poured into the evaporating dish.
9. The second beaker was further washed with denim water and the solution was poured into
the evaporating dish
10. Setup two was used to boil the water, until the salt started popping, and the Bunsen burner
was turned off, and the water was left to naturally evaporate
11. The weights were taken over the next three days.
 Risk assessment:

Risk How to avoid the risk

The mixture may spray into your Wearing safety goggle will prevent the mixture from
eye, damaging your sight spraying into your eye
Loose hair and clothing, make get Tying back hair and securing loose clothing such as ties
caught in the Bunsen burner will reduce the risk, of the parts being set alight

Results:

Day 1 (1/2/2017) Day 2 (2/2/17) Day 3 (3/2/17)

Weight of filter paper 3.33 grams 3.32 grams 3.31 grams
and sand (grams)
Weight of evaporating 285.15 grams 250.15 grams 215.03 grams
dish and content
(grams)

Discussion: According to the results the final weight of the sand and filter paper was 3.31 grams. This
means the sand was 1.11 grams. However, the sand first input, was 1 gram. The evaporating dish
ended up weighing 215.03 grams. The evaporating dish itself is 205.09 grams, so the contents in it is
994 grams. If the hypothesis was correct then the sand will be 1 gram, and the salt in the
evaporating dish will also be 1 gram. The results were not consistent with the hypothesis, however,
given time, and if the current trend is followed in the results, then the results may eventually match
the hypothesis. The experiment was not a success, because of the lack of time, thus the experiment
was incomplete, as not all the water evaporated. So the extra weight in the experiment was the
water. The Constant variables in the experiment include the electric balance used, the filter paper
and evaporating dish were not changed when weighing. Independent variables, will include the
amount of water in the filter paper and sand, as well as the water in the evaporating dish. The
dependant variables in this experiment is the final weight. The experiment is relatively accurate,
with the balance scale highly accurate with a 0.005 degree of error. However, the experiments
reliability can be improved by repeating the procedure several times, instead of doing it just once.
The experiment is valid, as the steps directly target the aim of the experiment, which is to mix and
then separate the mixture.

In conclusion, the experiment did not meet the hypothesis, because the experiment was incomplete,
and there was leftover water which was weighed. The experiment can be improved, by allowing for
more time, so all the water evaporates, however, this raises the problem of dust settling on the
items, resulting in additional weight again.