Describe a procedure to separate a mixture of salt, sand, and water.

Question

aaronq · Answer

is sand soluble in water?  is salt?

anonymous · Answer

..idk what soluble means omg.

aaronq · Answer

soluble means it can dissolve.

Like when you put sugar in coffee, or bath salts in your tub. After these substances dissolve into the liquids, they're no longer visible to the naked eye - they "blend" in.

anonymous · Answer

Ohhh k. So if it like dissolvess you cant really seperate it right? Or like how?

anonymous · Answer

I dont think sand is soluble in water am i right?

aaronq · Answer

sand is not soluble in water, but salt is.

How would you remove solids from a liquid?

how do you separate pasta from the boiling water when cooking it?

anonymous · Answer

*gasps*...with a strainer. Okay-so I take a material or something and put it into the water and the sand comess out on it. Tru?

aaronq · Answer

yup!  another term for a strainer would be $\sf filter$.

You can pass the mixture of salt, water and sand through a filter (like a coffee filter) and the sand will be too big to fit through the holes/pores. 

Now you've separated the sand from the water and the salt.

How could you separate the salt from the water?

anonymous · Answer

Wow i like this ur actually making me understand rather that just gimme the answer...hmmm....OOOOH... okay okay so if u put salt water in the sun eventually the water will evaporate and leave the salt behind correct?

aaronq · Answer

yup, that is correct! 

The term for that separation process is called $\sf distillation$ (separation of compounds based on their boiling points).

anonymous · Answer

lol thx