What method can be used to separate parts of a liquid mixture when the entire mixture can pass through a filter?
Distillation.
When a liquid mixture can pass through a filter, it means that all the components are in a dissolved or very finely dispersed state. To effectively separate the different parts of such a mixture, you can use a technique called distillation.
Distillation is a process that exploits the difference in boiling points of the components in a liquid mixture to separate them. Here's how it works:
1. Start by heating the liquid mixture in a distillation apparatus, which consists of a flask containing the mixture, a condenser, and a collection vessel. The flask is typically placed on a heat source like a hot plate.
2. As the liquid mixture is heated, the component with the lowest boiling point will vaporize first. This is because the molecules with higher kinetic energy, which are more likely to escape from the liquid phase, can overcome the attractive forces between them and transition into the gas phase.
3. The vaporized component will then rise into the condenser, which is a coiled tube cooled by running cold water. The condenser cools down the vapor, causing it to condense back into a liquid.
4. The condensed liquid, which now contains the separated component, will collect in a separate vessel called the receiver.
5. The remaining components with higher boiling points stay in the original flask. The process can continue if there are more volatile components to be separated.
By repeating these steps, you can separate different components of a liquid mixture that can pass through a filter. Keep in mind that distillation is most effective when the boiling points of the components have a significant difference, as this allows for a more complete separation.