Separating sand, salt, water, oil, and sawdust
Steve Winn
sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
Jessica
jw...@thunder.prohosting.com
David Hemmings
Could partition between water and an organic solvent depending on the
oil involved.
HTH
DH
Steve Winn <sw...@midwest.net> wrote in article
<6v8n37$oh9$1...@supernews.com>...
Uncle Al
>
> How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water, oil, and
> sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
> by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
> separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
Mix vegetable oil and water. Shake well. Wait a few minutes.
--
Uncle Al Schwartz
Uncl...@ix.netcom.com ("zero" before @)
http://uncleal.within.net/
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Hoffman, Nick N
> Steve Winn wrote:
> >
> > How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water,
> oil, and
> > sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt
> from water
> > by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled
> with
> > separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
>
> Mix vegetable oil and water. Shake well. Wait a few minutes.
>
The sawdust and oil will be hard to seperate totally.....
> --
> Uncle Al Schwartz
> Uncl...@ix.netcom.com ("zero" before @)
> http://uncleal.within.net/
> http://pw2.netcom.com/~uncleal0/uncleal.htm
> http://www.ultra.net.au/~wisby/uncleal.htm
> http://www.guyy.demon.co.uk/uncleal/uncleal.htm
> (Toxic URLs! Unsafe for children, Democrats, and most mammals)
> "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" The Net!
--
-------./\/^·._,·´`·.,··=-----------------
Nick Hoffman Geophysicist Extraordinaire
-------´\/\_.´`·._.·´`··=-----------------
David Hemmings
Hoffman, Nick N <Hoffman...@NOSPAM.bhp.com.au> wrote in article
<36183B1C...@NOSPAM.bhp.com.au>...
Andreas Gosberg
chemistry course (junior high? I am not used to the US-system.). Just think in
terms of solubility (which ingredient dissolves in what) and density (what
sinks, what floats).
Of course you know that salt dissolves in water and oil does not. Sand sinks
down and sawdust floats upon the water. Separating water from water might get a
bit tedious, though. But water is also the most volatile ingredient (as long as
the oil is salad oil or mineral oil). You should come along with a simple
procedure for the separation now.
Hint: separate the water first!
regards,
a.g.
Steve Winn wrote:
> How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water, oil, and
> sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
> by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
> separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
>
> Jessica
> jw...@thunder.prohosting.com
Benjamin Smith
Hand me a light so that I may see
If the world is too bright
Give me a pair of shades,
I had too much to drink last night !
On Sun, 4 Oct 1998, Steve Winn wrote:
> How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water, oil, and
> sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
> by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
> separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
>
> Jessica
> jw...@thunder.prohosting.com
>
One would assume that the sawdust and oil would float forming a layer
on top of the saline and the sand would sink. Therefore the problem is to
seperate the oil/sawdust. This could be achieved by shaking the whole mix
(in a stoppered bottle of course) to emulsify the water/oil
(cf vinegarette dressing). Then before the emulsion settles skim of the
sawdust and filter (quite porous paper). This yields the sand and
sawdust. Allow the emulsion to settle and seperate the oil from the
saline (separating funnel). The salt can be retrieved from the saline by
heating and condensing.
There easy when you know how.
Benjamin Smith
Second year Undergraduate
Department of Chemistry
scu9...@rdg.ac.uk
Robertf
David Hemmings
Benjamin Smith <scu9...@reading.ac.uk> wrote in article
<Pine.GSO.3.96.981005...@suma3.reading.ac.uk>...
> - If the world is too dark
> Hand me a light so that I may see
> If the world is too bright
> Give me a pair of shades,
> I had too much to drink last night !
>
> One would assume that the sawdust and oil would float forming a layer
> on top of the saline and the sand would sink. Therefore the problem
is to
> seperate the oil/sawdust. This could be achieved by shaking the
whole mix
> (in a stoppered bottle of course) to emulsify the water/oil
> (cf vinegarette dressing). Then before the emulsion settles skim of
the
> sawdust and filter (quite porous paper). This yields the sand and
> sawdust.
Not quite, why bother to emulsify in the first place doing it this way,
unless of course the point was to crudely separate. Ok filter off
sawdust/sand, wash through with organic that oil will be miscible in
and water, so you have cleaned sand sawdust just add water - easy
separation. Saline and organics will be separable in sep. funnel.
evaporate off organic to leave oil. Separately distill off water to
leave salt and distilled water. This is one way unless you are not
allowed any extra solvents.
DH
Benjamin Smith
scu9...@rdg.ac.uk
- If the world is too dark
Hand me a light so that I may see
If the world is too bright
Give me a pair of shades,
I had too much to drink last night !
>
> Not quite, why bother to emulsify in the first place doing it this way,
> unless of course the point was to crudely separate. Ok filter off
> sawdust/sand, wash through with organic that oil will be miscible in
> and water, so you have cleaned sand sawdust just add water - easy
> separation. Saline and organics will be separable in sep. funnel.
> evaporate off organic to leave oil. Separately distill off water to
> leave salt and distilled water. This is one way unless you are not
> allowed any extra solvents.
>
> DH
>
But the whole point of the experiment is so that 2nd year secondary
children can devise their own experimental techniques, without organic
solvents (would you let a 12 year old loose with CHCl3 ?). This is one of
the trickier ones but there are simpler ones such as sand and Fe fillings
(magnet).
Benjamin.M.Smith
Michael Press
When I make clear chicken broth I do not separate the chicken fat with
an organic solvent.
--
Michael Press
pre...@apple.com
Dwen
Just a humble suggestion (and probably the fastest, most economical one yet-
also!...Why not centrifuge the mixture? The various components will be
layered in order of increasing density (from top of column to bottom). This
can then be easily decanted! Of course, the salt/water mixture can then be
distilled off!
Of course, a key question to ask is what kind of purity are you expecting
for the separated layers? Pure to the naked eye or some other criterion?
Bye
Dwen
If at first you don't succceeeed...if at first you don't succcccceed...if at
first you don't suceed...if at first you don't succedd...
sun_f...@my-dejanews.com
> On Sun, 4 Oct 1998, Steve Winn wrote:
>
> > How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water, oil, and
> > sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
> > by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
> > separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
> >
> > Jessica
> > jw...@thunder.prohosting.com
> >
> One would assume that the sawdust and oil would float forming a layer
> on top of the saline and the sand would sink. Therefore the problem is to
> seperate the oil/sawdust. This could be achieved by shaking the whole mix
> (in a stoppered bottle of course) to emulsify the water/oil
> (cf vinegarette dressing). Then before the emulsion settles skim of the
> sawdust and filter (quite porous paper). This yields the sand and
> sawdust. Allow the emulsion to settle and seperate the oil from the
> saline (separating funnel). The salt can be retrieved from the saline by
> heating and condensing.
>
> There easy when you know how.
>
> Benjamin Smith
> Second year Undergraduate
> Department of Chemistry
> scu9...@rdg.ac.uk
>
the density of the oil could be quite close to 1.00 in which case it will be
miscible with water (e.g. bitmuen, hgo etc). in this case i'd probably still
go for a physical seperation (as appos. to chem.) by adding more salt to the
to increase the water phase denisty; assuming you know the type of salt being
used.
i wouldn't bother shaking it as suggested! - just let it settle! the oil will
form a nice layer at the top.
--
- sunflower
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Elgon
> the density of the oil could be quite close to 1.00 in which case it will be
> miscible with water (e.g. bitmuen, hgo etc). in this case i'd probably still
Erm. Call me ignorant and old fashioned but I was of the opionion that
density had relatively little to do with miscibility in polar vs.
non-polar liquids. As for bitmuen (sic.) if it is soluble then why do
they use it on roads?
gaz M.
sun_f...@my-dejanews.com
who said bitumen (excuse my typo) was soluble in water?????
you're confusing soluble with miscible. try it. take an oil with a density a
little greater than 1.00 - e.g. RPDE. add an equal amount of water (& a water
soluble dye, so you see the layers clearly). start adding salt. initially the
aq. layer sits on the oil, as more salt is added the density of water
increases and when the densities become equal, a uniform liquid results.
continue adding water and the liquid will separate again, this time with the
oil on top.
i have a fair amount of experience in the formulation and manufacture of
bitumen emulsions for road construction; it is quite easy to disperse bitumen
in water with little or no surfactant - it has to be because of cost
constraints!
Elgon
>
> In article <363092...@torside.shef.ac.uk>,
> Elgon <cha9...@torside.shef.ac.uk> wrote:
> > sun_f...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> >
> > > the density of the oil could be quite close to 1.00 in which case it will be
> > > miscible with water (e.g. bitmuen, hgo etc). in this case i'd probably still
> >
> > Erm. Call me ignorant and old fashioned but I was of the opionion that
> > density had relatively little to do with miscibility in polar vs.
> > non-polar liquids. As for bitmuen (sic.) if it is soluble then why do
> > they use it on roads?
> >
> > gaz M.
>
> who said bitumen (excuse my typo) was soluble in water?????
>
> you're confusing soluble with miscible. try it. take an oil with a density a
> little greater than 1.00 - e.g. RPDE. add an equal amount of water (& a water
> soluble dye, so you see the layers clearly). start adding salt. initially the
> aq. layer sits on the oil, as more salt is added the density of water
> increases and when the densities become equal, a uniform liquid results.
> continue adding water and the liquid will separate again, this time with the
> oil on top.
>
> i have a fair amount of experience in the formulation and manufacture of
> bitumen emulsions for road construction; it is quite easy to disperse bitumen
> in water with little or no surfactant - it has to be because of cost
> constraints!
Apologies. I'll look this one up.
Gaz M.
w. scott reamy
> > On Sun, 4 Oct 1998, Steve Winn wrote:
> >
> > > How would you go about separating a mixture of sand, salt, water, oil, and
> > > sawdust into individual containers? I know you can separate salt from water
> > > by distillation and sand with filtration. I am completely puzzled with
> > > separating the oil though. Can anyone help?
> > >
Once the sawdust has been removed from the mixture, it will still very likely be
wet and oily. (And depending on the density of the wood, some wet sawdust may sink
to the bottom after a while.) If the oil is volatile enough, it (and the water as
well) can be removed by steam distillation. A nonpolar solvent extraction might
also get the oil out. That would leave you with nice dry, clean (?) sawdust.
As for removing the really dense sawdust from sand, maybe try a wind tunnel.