Applications of Separating Mixtures

Farmers also do winnowing. During windy days, they toss the grains in the air. Heavy grains naturally fall down in a container because of gravity, while the lighter particles or the husks are blown by the wind. Winnowing is an example of a simple physical means of separating mixtures. This is done to remove the parts of palay that are inedible.

The two substances in a salt-and-sand mixture, that is, the salt and the sand, can also be separated through a simple procedure. Adding water to the mixture and stirring would dissolve the salt in the mixture. The salt can be separated from the sand by pouring the salt solution slowly into another container or by filtering the mixture. After removing the salt solution, the sand would remain in the container. Separating the components in a mixture makes one substance pure.

If sand is mixed with larger particles, such as gravel, a sieve can be used to separate sand from gravel. The fine particles of sand will pass through the sieve, and the big particles of gravel will remain. Construction workers use fine sand rather than the big particles of gravel in building smooth walls and fences.

In a bowl of fruit salad, fruits can be separated one by one using a fork or tongs because you can easily identify the fruits in the mixture. You can simply pick the fruit that you like one after another.