Question

How can mixtures of solids be separated?

Answer 1

Here are some ways to separate mixtures of solids

Explanation:

By appearance

Use tweezers to separate one type of solid from another.

By size

Use a sieve with holes of the appropriate size. The smaller particles will pass through, and the larger particles remain in the sieve.

By winnowing

Wind throws lighter particles further than heavier particles.

By magnetism

You can use a magnet to separate iron filings from a mixture with sand.

By sublimation

Heating a mixture of iodine and sand will cause the iodine to sublime.

By solubility

Salt dissolves in water. Sand does not. You can filter the sand from the mixture and recover the salt by evaporating the water from the filtrate.

By electrorefining

You can separate copper metal from impurities by plating it onto a pure copper electrode.

Here's a summary of the separation procedures

And here's a video on the separation of solids.