A mixture containing potatoes, salt and sawdust has been given to you. Outline a stepwise procedure for separating each component from this mixture.
Step 1: Handpick the potatoes from the mixture. Potatoes are large and can be easily separated by hand based on their size difference from salt and sawdust.
Step 2: Add water to the remaining mixture of salt and sawdust. Salt is soluble in water and will dissolve, while sawdust is insoluble and will float on water.
Step 3: Filter the mixture using a filter paper or cloth. The sawdust will be collected on the filter as residue, while the salt solution passes through as filtrate.
Step 4: Dry the sawdust residue to remove any remaining water.
Step 5: Evaporate the salt solution by heating or keeping it under sunlight. The water will evaporate, leaving behind solid salt crystals.
Step 6: Collect the separated potatoes, sawdust, and salt as three distinct components.
This procedure uses a combination of handpicking, filtration, and evaporation methods to separate all three components effectively.
Explanation
The chapter describes multiple separation methods: handpicking for separating based on size, colour and shape; filtration for separating insoluble solids from liquids; and evaporation for separating dissolved solids from liquids. A mixture with more than two components requires a combination of several methods. Salt is soluble in water while sawdust is not, making filtration possible. Evaporation recovers the dissolved salt from water.