A beaker contains a mixture of sand and salt. A student adds water to dissolve the salt. Which processes can be used to separate out the sand and salt?

Question

distillation to collect both the sand and the salt
filtration to collect both the sand and the salt
filtration to collect the sand and distillation to collect the salt
distillation to collect the sand and filtration to collect the salt

Answer 1

To separate a mixture of sand and salt where the salt is dissolved in water, the appropriate processes would be:

1. Filtration: This process can be used to separate the solid sand from the liquid solution of saltwater. When the mixture is filtered, the sand will remain on the filter paper as residue, while the saltwater will pass through.

2. Evaporation or Distillation: After filtering out the sand, the salt can be recovered from the saltwater by evaporating the water. If using distillation, the water can be boiled to turn into vapor, and then the vapor can be cooled and condensed back into liquid, leaving the salt behind.

Based on these processes, the correct answer would be:

Filtration to collect the sand and distillation to collect the salt.

This method effectively separates the solid (sand) and the dissolved substance (salt) after the salt has been dissolved in water.