Introduction | Separation Techniques

Definition of Separation techniques:

Separation techniques are physical methods used for separating the constituents of various mixtures. The techniques employed in separating a particular mixture depend on the physical properties of its constituents. These properties include;

• size of the particles
• solubility of the substances in solvents
• Boiling point
• densityDensity is the measurement of how tightly a material is packed together i.e. how closely the particles are packed in the material. The tighter the material is packed the more its... More
• miscibility
• magnetic property
• sublimation
• rate of movement

Types of Separation Techniques:

The techniques are as follows:

Handpicking, sieving, winnowing, filtration, floatation, decantation, centrifugation, evaporation, distillation, fractional distillation, crystallization, fractional crystallization, magnetization, separation of immiscible liquid (Use of separating funnel), sublimation, precipitationPrecipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the Earth. It comes in many forms, like rain, sleet, and snow. More, chromatography.

Hand-picking:

This method is used when the particles of the constituents of one of the substances are large enough to be picked with hands. For example-picking stones from rice, beans, etc.

Winnowing:

This method is best described by observing the groundnut seller when removing the light brownish chaffChaff is the outer part of grain such as wheat. It is removed before the grain is used as food. In cereal crops like rice, barley, oats, and wheat, the seed... More of the groundnut. The seller threshes the nut between his/her hands and blows off the chaff. The chaff will easily blow off by air because it is lighter than the nut. Other examples are blowing chaff from beans, guinea corn, etc.

Sieving: