Separating iron filings salt and sand

Final Report

Exercise 1 Data Table 1: Mass of Substances

CHEM 181 DL1 Separation of a Mixture of Solids

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Exercise 2

Substance/Mixture Mass (g)

Mixture of Solids

Mass of Paper

Mass of Paper + Iron Filings

Mass of Iron Filings

Mass of 100 mL Glass Beaker

Mass of 100 mL Glass Beaker + Sand

Mass of Sand

Mass of Filter Paper

Mass of Filter Paper + Benzoic Acid

Mass of Benzoic Acid

Mass of 100 mL Glass Beaker

Mass of 100 mL Glass Beaker + Salt

Mass of Salt

5.1

0.8

2.2

1.4

56.7

58.6

1.9

0.7

1.5

0.8

56.7

57.7

1

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Data Table 2: Mixture Summary

About 0.02% was recovered through the separation techniques.

1. What percent of the total mass of mixture of solids (Init ial) was recovered through the separation techniques?

Particles that didn't get separated completely or being lost on containers.

2. Describe possible sources of error to account for any deviation between the % of the total mass of mixture of solids (init ial) and the sum of separated components.

The most challenging step to perform in the separation procedure was separating the benzoic acid because it stuck to the sides of the cup. I ended up adding too much water to get as much of the benzoic acid as I could. This cause me to have to boil the salt solution longer than the experiment suggested. I'm not sure what could have been done to help this problem.

3. What was the most challenging step to perform in the separation procedure? What would you suggest to make the step less challenging?

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Substance/Mixture Mass (g)

Mass of Mixture of Solids (Initial)

Mass of Iron Filings

Mass of Sand

Mass Benzoic Acid

Mass of Salt

Substance/Mixture % of Total Mixture

Mass of Mixture of Solids (Initial)

Mass of Iron Filings

Mass of Sand

Mass Benzoic Acid

Mass of Salt

5.1

1.4

1.9

0.7

1.1

100%

27.45%

37.25%

13.72%

21.56%