Question

You are provided with a mixture containing sand, iron filings, ammonium chloride, and sodium chloride. Describe the procedures you would use to separate these constituents from the mixture?

Answer 1

Provided with a mixture containing sand, iron filings, ammonium chloride, and sodium chloride. the following steps would be followed for their separation:

Step 1:Use a magnet to separate iron filings.

• Iron gets stuck to the magnet thus irons fillings can be separated by a magnet

Step 2: When the remaining mixture is sublimated, ammonium chloride (${\mathrm{AlCl}}_3$) is separated as it sublimes i.e. changes directly to gaseous vapors.

Step 3: Add water(${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$) to the remaining mixture, stir, and filter the sand out.

Step 4: Evaporate the filtrate to recover the sodium chloride.