This report outlines numerous techniques used to separate and purify chemicals. During the study crystals, sand and hot water were dissolved, separated then crystallized to form crystals. Thin layer and column Chromatography was used to separate and identify compounds in spinach and green food dye.
Introduction
Since ancient times, people have used methods of separating and purifying chemical substances for improving the quality of life. There are a large number of important applications and numerous techniques that can be used. (Karger 2014 ). This paper discusses 3 techniques used to demonstrate the separation and purification of chemicals. Recrystallization was performed in order to recover crystals of copper sulphate pentahydrate by filtering copper sulphate from a mixture of sand and salt. Thin Layer Chromatography of spinach extract focussed on determining the spectrum of chlorophylls, carotenes and xanthophylls. Column Chromatography of green food dye was used to visually and spectrometrically determine whether the dye is one green component or a mixture of blue and yellow components. The results remain consistent with previous experiments, within experimental error.
Materials and Methods
Methods for Part A – Recrystallization of a
Results
Part A
Mass of recrystallisation mixture = 10g
Description of the mixture: contains grains of crystals sand and hot water
Notes and observations on the dissolution: crystals dissolved on contact with hot water. Sand was left and a blue colour