Question

How will you separate the constituents of a mixture containing iron fillings, sand and sulphur?

Answer 1

The following steps could be taken to separate the constituents of a mixture containing iron fillings, sand, and sulphur:

1. Sand and sulphur are non-magnetic, whereas iron fillings can be used as magnets.
2. So, they can be separated by a method that uses a magnet for separating a mixture.
3. Iron fillings get attracted to the magnet.
4. Now, the mixture of sand and sulphur needs to be separated. To separate sand and sulphur we dissolve them in carbon disulphide.
5. Sulphur gets dissolved in carbon disulphide and sand gets left over.
6. This sand can be separated by the process of filtration.
7. The left filtrate is passed through evaporation to get sulphur.

This is how we can separate a mixture containing iron fillings, sand, and sulphur.