Name: ...... Class: ...... Date: ......

Lesson 3: Homogenous mixtures

Worksheet:

Investigating distillation and filtration

A. Distillation

Aim

To separate salt water using a solar still.

Materials and equipment

  • 100 mL measuring cylinder
  • 1 clear plastic cup
  • 1 large aluminium pie plate
  • 100 mL salt water solution (100 mL water to 5 g salt)
  • cardboard box (large enough to hold pie plate and cup)
  • plastic wrap
  • pebble
  • packaging or masking tape

Procedure

  1. Place the cardboard box on a flat surface in full sunlight.
  2. Place the aluminium pie plate to one side of the box and pour in 100 mL of salt water solution.
  3. Place a clear plastic cup in the centre of the solar still.
  4. Cover the top of the box with plastic wrap and seal with tape.
  5. Place a small pebble on the plastic wrap so that it dips down directly above the empty cup.
  6. Leave for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Remove the clear plastic cup and measure and record the amount of fresh water produced.

Questions

  1. Was the process effective? (Did you obtain fresh water?)
  2. Compare your results with those from other groups and comment on the efficiency of this process.
  3. How could you improve the method to obtain better results?

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© 2013 Education Services Australia Ltd, except where indicated otherwise. You may copy, distribute and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain all copyright notices and acknowledgements.

Name: ...... Class: ...... Date: ......

B. Filtration

Aim

To separate a mixture of sand and water.

Materials and equipment

  • 100 mL measuring cylinder
  • 2 clear plastic cups
  • funnel
  • paper coffee filter
  • teaspoon
  • paddle pop stick for stirring
  • water
  • sand

Procedure

  1. Measure 100 mL of water and pour into a plastic cup.
  2. Measure one teaspoon of sand and pour into the water.
  3. Stir the mixture.
  4. Fold the coffee filter to fit inside the funnel.
  5. Hold the funnel over the empty plastic cup.
  6. Slowly pour the sand and water mixture through the filter paper, collecting the water in the second cup.
  7. Record your observations.

Questions

  1. Did the process effectively separate the sand and water?
  2. How could you improve the method to obtain better results?

1

© 2013 Education Services Australia Ltd, except where indicated otherwise. You may copy, distribute and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain all copyright notices and acknowledgements.