Seperation of a Mixture of Solids

Separation of a Mixture of Solids

Hands-On Labs, Inc.

Version 42-0196-00-02

Lab Report Assistant

This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report

Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables

that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab

reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.

Exercise 1: Separation of a Mixture

Data Table 1: Mass of Substances

Substance/Mixture

Mass (g)

Mixture of Solids

6.2

Mass of Paper

0.8

Mass of Paper + Iron Filings

2.2

Mass of Iron Filings

1.4

Mass of 100-mL Glass Beaker

49.9

Mass of 100-mL Glass Beaker + Sand

51.5

Mass of Sand

1.6

Mass of Filter Paper

1.1

Mass of Filter Paper + Benzoic Acid

1.8

Mass of Benzoic Acid

0.8

Mass of 100-mL Glass Beaker

50.69

Mass of 100-mL Glass Beaker + Salt

52.7

Mass of Salt

2.01

Exercise 2: Summary of Separation

Data Table 2. Mixture Summary.

Substance/Mixture

Mass (g)

% of Total Mixture

Mass of Mixture of Solids (Initial)

6.2

51.6%

Mass of Iron Filings

1.4

11.7%

Mass of Sand

1.6

13.3%

Mass of Benzoic Acid

0.8

6.7%

Mass of Salt

2.01

16.7%

Questions

A. What percent of the total mass of mixture of solids (Initial) was recovered through the

separation techniques? (Hint: What was the percent difference between the sum of the four

separated components and the initial mass of the mixture of solids?)

Mass of mixture of solids is 6.2. The sum of the four separated components is 5.81. The

percent recovered 93.7%.

B. Describe possible sources of error to account for any deviation between the percent of the

total mass of mixture of solids (initial) and the sum of separated components.

Possible sources of error could come from not completely seperating the lead...