Question

A laboratory technician needs to separate a mixture of sand, salt, and water. Which of the following sequences of steps would effectively isolate the salt from the mixture?
1 point
Evaporate the water first, then filter the mixture to separate sand.
Filter the mixture to remove sand, then evaporate the water to obtain salt.
Mix the sand and salt with water, then let it sit until the sand settles.
Dissolve sand in water, then filter to separate salt.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To effectively isolate the salt from the mixture of sand, salt, and water, the best sequence of steps is:

**Filter the mixture to remove sand, then evaporate the water to obtain salt.**

This method works because:
1. Filtering will separate the sand (which does not dissolve in water) from the salt and water (which remain in solution).
2. Once the sand is removed, evaporating the water will leave the salt behind.

So, the correct choice is to filter the mixture to remove sand first, and then evaporate the water to obtain the salt.

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