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Isolating the Components of a Three Component Mixture Essay

Decent Essays

CHE 151-50
Fall 2013
Lab report

Isolating the Components of a Three Component Mixture
The purpose of this experiment was to separate the component of three mixtures sand, sodium chloride and calcium carbonate then calculate the percentage by mass of each component recovered from the mixture. The other purpose of this experiment was to show us the students the concepts associated with physical and chemical properties of substances.
Me and my lab partner, obtained a mixture of a un known proportion from the instructor and then flow the guide line in our lab manual to separate the mixture by applying the separation method motioned in our lab manual pages 33-40 . In this experiment, the separation methods were decantation, …show more content…

The composition of a pure substance is constant, and thus pure substances have characteristic physical properties that do not change and this is why we are able to separate each element in this lab experiment. Examples of physical properties that can be used to describe pure substances include solubility, conductivity, magnetism, density, boiling point, and melting point.
Since we obtain an unknown proportion of a mixture, it’s important to mention that a mixture is a result of a combination of two or more pure substances that do not react chemically. The physical properties of a mixture depend on its composition because the amounts of each substance making up a mixture can vary. By taking advantage of the unique physical properties of individual components within a mixture, it should be possible to separate a mixture into its components. Mixtures have the following fundamental properties:
1>each component of a mixture retains its chemical identity and hence its own properties.
2> Composition of a mixture may vary while that of its components is fixed.
3> Mixtures can be separated into these components by using physical methods like, decantation, distillation, evaporation, crystallization, sublimation, and filtration.
In this lab, a mixture of three solids was separated to their individual components through decantation,

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