sand and salt filtration experiment

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Separating sand and salt by filtering and evaporation

In association with Nuffield Foundation

• Four out of five

Task students to separate an insoluble material from a soluble one in this experiment using sand and salt

This is a very straightforward experiment. It can be carried out individually or in groups of two. Pupils must stand up during heating activities and beware of hot salt spitting when evaporation is almost complete.

• Eye protection
• Beaker, 250 cm 3
• Glass stirring rod
• Filter funnel
• Filter paper
• Conical flask, 250 cm 3
• Evaporating basin
• Bunsen burner
• Heat resistant mat
• Mixture of sand and sodium chloride (salt), about 6–7 g per group of students (a suitable sand–salt mixture should contain approximately 20% salt by mass)

Health, safety and technical notes

• Wear eye protection throughout this experiment.
• Pupils must stand up during heating activities and beware of hot salt spitting when evaporation is almost complete.
• Sodium chloride (eg table salt), NaCl(s) - see CLEAPSS Hazcard HC047b .
• Pour the sand–salt mixture into the beaker so that it just covers the base.
• Add about 50 cm 3  of water, or add water until the beaker is about one-fifth full.
• Stir the mixture gently for a few minutes.
• Filter the mixture into a conical flask.
• Pour the filtrate into an evaporating basin.
• Heat the salt solution gently until it starts to decrepitate (spit). CARE: Keep eye protection on and do not get too close.
• Turn off the Bunsen burner and let the damp salt dry in the dish.

Source: Royal Society of Chemistry

Equipment for a class experiment to separate a mixture of sand and salt.

Teaching notes

If desired, the experiment can be extended to isolate dry samples of sand and salt. To do this, the damp sand in the filter paper can be transferred to another sheet of dry filter paper, and, by folding and dabbing, the sample can be dried. If necessary, another piece of filter paper can be used.

Students often like to present their specimens in small bottles for approval, so a spatula could be used to accomplish this. While the first student of a pair is transferring the sand, the other can be scraping the dried salt from the evaporating dish and transferring it to another specimen bottle.

If this extension is carried out, the students should be encouraged to label the bottles. They should be told that all samples prepared in this way need to be labelled, even if in this case, it should be obvious which substance is which.

Student questions

• Why can sand and salt be separated using this experiment?
• Why is the salt, sand and water mixture stirred in step 3?
• Why is the salt solution heated in step 6?
• How might the final traces of water be removed from your samples to ensure that they are totally dry?
• Give two reasons why the sand you have obtained might still be contaminated with salt.
• How could you adapt your experiment to obtain a purer sample of sand?
• Give two reasons why the salt you have obtained might still be contaminated with sand.
• How could you adapt your experiment to obtain a purer sample of salt?

Primary science teaching notes

If you teach primary science, the following information is designed to help you use this resource.

Skill development

Children will develop their working scientifically skills by:

• Drawing conclusions and raising further questions that could be investigated, based on their data and observations.
• Using appropriate scientific language and ideas to explain, evaluate and communicate their methods and findings.

Learning outcomes

Children will:

• Observe that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution.
• Describe how to recover a substance from a solution.
• Use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating.
• Demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes.

Concepts supported

Children will learn:

• That there are various techniques that can be used to separate different mixtures.
• That dissolving is a reversible reaction.
• That not all solids are soluble.
• That the rate of dissolving can be affected by various factors.
• That melting and dissolving are not the same process.

Suggested activity use

This activity can be used as a whole-class investigation, with children working in small groups or pairs to look at how to separate the salt and sand. This could provide a stimulus for further investigations looking at how to separate other mixtures of solids, either of different particle sizes or by solubility. 

Practical considerations

Primary schools often don’t have Bunsen burners, so viable alternatives need to be sourced. Similarly, it may be difficult to source the equipment needed to evaporate water to recover the dissolved salt. Head stands and tea lights can work well as possible alternatives.

When carrying out this activity be aware that some insoluble solids are able to form suspensions. This is where the particles appear to have dissolved, when in fact they have been spread out throughout the liquid. A good indicator that a suspension has formed is that the liquid will go cloudy or the particles can be heard scraping as the mixture is stirred.

The layout of this activity is very prescriptive as the procedure is set out on a step by step basis. An open challenge activity, with children working in small groups and devising their own methods, would extend the children’s thinking. Different groups’ suggestions could be compared and evaluated as a class.

Additional information

This is a resource from the  Practical Chemistry project , developed by the Nuffield Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Practical Chemistry activities accompany  Practical Physics  and  Practical Biology .

© Nuffield Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry

• 11-14 years
• 14-16 years
• Practical experiments
• Compounds and mixtures

Specification

• AT.4 Safe use of a range of equipment to purify and/or separate chemical mixtures including evaporation, filtration, crystallisation, chromatography and distillation.
• Mixtures can be separated by physical processes such as filtration, crystallisation, simple distillation, fractional distillation and chromatography. These physical processes do not involve chemical reactions and no new substances are made.
• AT4 Safe use of a range of equipment to purify and/or separate chemical mixtures including evaporation, filtration, crystallisation, chromatography and distillation.
• 4 Safe use of a range of equipment to purify and/or separate chemical mixtures including evaporation, filtration, crystallisation, chromatography and distillation
• Safe use of a range of equipment to purify and/or separate chemical mixtures including evaporation, filtration, crystallisation, chromatography and distillation
• (i) atoms/molecules in mixtures not being chemically joined and mixtures being easily separated by physical processes such as filtration, evaporation, chromatography and distillation
• 1.9.5 investigate practically how mixtures can be separated using filtration, crystallisation, paper chromatography, simple distillation or fractional distillation (including using fractional distillation in the laboratory to separate miscible liquids…
• 2. Develop and use models to describe the nature of matter; demonstrate how they provide a simple way to to account for the conservation of mass, changes of state, physical change, chemical change, mixtures, and their separation.

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How to Separate Sand and Salt

Last Updated: June 15, 2024 References

This article was reviewed by Anne Schmidt . Anne Schmidt is a Chemistry Instructor in Wisconsin. Anne has been teaching high school chemistry for over 20 years and is passionate about providing accessible and educational chemistry content. She has over 9,000 subscribers to her educational chemistry YouTube channel. She has presented at the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AATC) and was an Adjunct General Chemistry Instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Anne was published in the Journal of Chemical Education as a Co-Author, has an article in ChemEdX, and has presented twice and was published with the AACT. Anne has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and an MA in Secondary Education and Teaching from Viterbo University. This article has been viewed 193,841 times.

Separating sand and salt is a fun science experiment you can do from home. If you were ever interested in the scientific idea of solubility, separating these two is a simple way of demonstrating the concept. Whether at home or in a classroom, it's an incredibly straightforward process, and you'll get a chance to see science in action.

Carrying Out the Experiment

• Salt. Most households have table salt in the kitchen. If you're in a pinch, you can get salt packets from a fast food restaurant.
• Sand. Although it depends on where you live, sand should be very easy to find.
• A coffee filter and funnel. If the sand has a lot of chunks it, you should sift those out first using a strainer. [1] X Research source
• A pan and heating element. If you're in a chemistry lab, a flask and bunsen burner are arguably even better. [2] X Research source A second pan or plate is also recommended to catch the strained saltwater.
• For the sake of keeping the experiment controlled, do your best to make the portions equal.
• You should have between 15g of salt and sand each. This roughly equates to 1 tablespoon of each. [3] X Research source
• It's better to use smaller proportions. The experiment will prove the same point regardless, and it makes it easier to set up and clean up afterwards.
• Too much water will make the experiment take too long to boil off.
• Exact measurements aren't needed, but it can help keep the experiment consistent if you repeat it.
• Medium temperature on a stovetop will do nicely for this step.
• If you don't want to tamper with the dissolving process, you should leave the mixture untouched overnight.
• Make sure not to heat the water to the point of boiling! This will simply cause the water to evaporate, and you'll have to start from the beginning again.
• If you don't have any coffee filters, use a paper towel or a piece of cotton fabric, such as a handkerchief or bandana.
• The boiling temperature of salt is much higher than water. For the sake of protecting your pot, you should keep the temperature relatively low on the stovetop. It may take longer to boil, but speed isn't worth the risk of damage.
• From here, you can retrieve the salt. Put the retrieved salt next to the sand for the sake of completion if you so desire.

Recording Your Observations

• Although a salt and sand experiment is generally pretty simple, you'll find you get more satisfaction by going through the paperwork.

• Although the salt dissolves in the heated water, the salt remains intact.
• The salt needs the water to be heated before it dissolves.
• The salt doesn't boil away with the water.

• If you're by yourself, checking out a recording of the experiment on a streaming site like YouTube can be interesting. Even if you know the result, it is nonetheless worthwhile to see how someone else went about it.
• "Does the type of heating surface affect how well the salt dissolves?"
• "Would the experiment be different if I tried to dissolve it by stirring in room temperature water?"
• "Is the salt pure of water after boiling, or has the salt changed?"

• For a lot of homebrewed experiments, baking soda is very fun to play around with. You could try adding that to your mixture next time. [7] X Trustworthy Source Science Buddies Expert-sourced database of science projects, explanations, and educational material Go to source
• Doing this as part of a group is more enjoyable than doing it on your own.

Community Q&A

• This is a very simple experiment and doesn't require a group, but it can be more fun if you do it with someone else. It also helps to discuss what you observed afterwards. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• You may need the help of an adult while heating the mixtures. Be careful! Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Repeating the experiment a second time isn't necessary, but it's always good to double-check your results if something goes awry. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

• Although sand and salt aren't volatile chemicals, it will hurt if you let any of it get in your eyes. Protective eye gear is recommended if you happen to have any at your disposal. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 2

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-separate-solutions/
• ↑ http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/resource/res00000386/separating-sand-and-salt?cmpid=CMP00005908
• ↑ http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/convert/measurements.html
• ↑ http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p016.shtml
• ↑ http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p016.shtml#makeityourown

About This Article

To separate sand and salt, start by pouring the sand and salt mixture into a pan. Then, add just enough water to cover the mixture. Heat the mixture over medium heat on a stovetop, which will cause the salt to dissolve in the water. Once the salt has completely dissolved, pour the mixture through a strainer to separate the sand and salt water. Finally, boil the salt water until all of the water evaporates and you're just left with the salt you started with. If you want to learn how to get the salt out of your pan when you're finished, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Separate Sand and Salt

You can separate sand and salt either to obtain the components of a mixture or to explore separation chemistry. Separation is a method of purification that based on physical or chemical differences between two or more materials. Here are four ways to separate sand and salt and a look at the principles involved. This is a great science project for students at any grade level because it gets them thinking about properties of matter using familiar materials. They can apply the scientific method to test different separation methods.

Separate Sand and Salt Mechanically

Components of any mixture, such as sand and salt, are separated based on their differences. Both sand and salt are solids with similar-size particles. However, the particles look different under magnification. One method to separate sand and salt is to use tweezers to mechanically separate the grains, piece by piece. It’s not an efficient separation method, but it works.

Separate Sand and Salt by Density

You can separate sand and salt much more quickly using the different densities of the two substances. The density of salt is 2.16 g/cm³ while the density of sand is 2.65 g/cm³. Put another way, if you filled a bucket with salt and another with sand, the one with sand would weigh more. Sand is slightly heavier than salt.

So, if you shake a pan of sand and salt, the salt will rise to the top of the pan. You can scrape off the top layer of salt to separate it from the sand. The same principle is used to pan for gold. Gold is heavier than most other substances, so it stays at the bottom of the pan.

Separate Sand and Salt by Solubility

Salt dissolves in water, but sand does not. In other words, salt is soluble in water, while sand is not. So, you can use the difference in solubility to separate a mixture of sand and salt. Add water to the mixture until the salt dissolves. Solubility increases with temperature, so you’ll need less water if it’s hot. Once the salt dissolves, you can collect the sand. One way to do this is to pour the sand and salt water through a coffee filter or fine strainer . You can recover the salt by boiling the salt water until all of the water evaporates. Alternatively, you could just pour the salt water into a pan and let the water slowly evaporate. People get sea salt by spreading sea water over a large area and letting the sun evaporate the water.

Separate Sand and Salt by Melting Point

Salt (sodium chloride) and sand (silicon dioxide) have different melting points. The melting point of salt is 1474°F (801°C), while that of sand is 3110°F (1710°C). So, if you apply heat, salt melts before sand. You can use the melting point difference to separate a mixture of sand and salt by heating the mixture above 801°C, but below 1710°C. Pour the molten salt off, leaving the sand. While it’s possible to separate the components of the mixture using melting point, it’s not very practical. High temperatures are involved and the sand will be contaminated with a bit of salt. When you pour away the liquid salt, a little will contaminate the sand, like when you pour water off of sand.

Questions and Answers for Students

Here are some questions to ask students to get them thinking about how separation works:

• Which method does the best job at separating sand and salt? Answer: Solubility works best because no sand remains in the salt water, while very little salt remains on the sand. If you rinse the remaining sand with water, you can boil it off to recover the remaining salt.
• Does any method recover 100% of the salt and sand from the mixture? Answer: Not really. Although it’s slow, picking up individual sand and salt particles probably gives the best separation. However, at the molecular level, there’s probably a little salt on the surface of the sand. Purification always involves a little loss.
• How can you make separation using solubility more efficient? Answer: Use boiling water to dissolve the salt to minimize the amount of water that is needed. To recover the salt, pour the salt water in a thin layer to increase surface area and speed the rate of evaporation.
• Using the solubility method, why doesn’t salt evaporate with the water? Answer: Water has a much higher vapor pressure than salt. Water also has a much lower boiling point than salt. Using different boiling points is the basis of the separation method called distillation.
• Would any of these methods work to separate salt and sugar ? Answer: You could separate them using tweezers under magnification (although you’d hate your life). Salt crystals are cubic, while sugar crystals are hexagonal prisms. You could use solubility. Sugar dissolves in alcohol , while salt does not. While the two compounds have different boiling points, you’d have to be careful to avoid burning the sugar.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2019). A Research Agenda for Transforming Separation Science (Report). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25421
• Wilson, Ian D.; Adlard, Edward R.; Cooke, Michael; et al., eds. (2000). Encyclopedia of Separation Science . San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-226770-3.

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How to Separate Salt and Sand — 3 Methods

Separating Soluble and Insoluble Components of a Mixture

ThoughtCo / Vin Ganapathy

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One practical application of chemistry is that it can be used to help separate one substance from another. The reasons materials may be separated is because there is some difference between them, such as size (separating rocks from sand), state of matter (separating water from ice), solubility, electrical charge, or melting point. Below we'll explain how to separate salt and sand in several ways.

How to Separate Sand and Salt

• Students are often asked to separate salt and sand to learn about mixtures and to explore the differences between forms of matter that can be used to separate mixture components.
• Three methods used to separate salt and sand are physical separation (picking out pieces or using density to shake sand to the top), dissolving the salt in water, or melting the salt.
• Probably the easiest method to separate the two substances is to dissolve salt in water, pour the liquid away from the sand, and then evaporate the water to recover the salt.

Physical Separation of Salt and Sand

Since both salt and sand are solids, you could get a magnifying glass and tweezers and eventually pick out particles of salt and sand.

Another physical separation method is based on the different densities of salt and sand. The density of salt is 2.16 g/cm³ while the density of sand is 2.65 g/cm³. In other words, sand is slightly heavier than salt. If you shake a pan of salt and sand, the salt will eventually rise to the top. A similar method is used to pan for gold, since gold has a higher density than most other substances and sinks in a mixture .

How to Separate Salt and Sand Using Solubility

One method of separating salt and sand is based on solubility . If a substance is soluble, it means it dissolves in a solvent.  Salt  (sodium chloride or NaCl) is an ionic compound that is soluble in water. Sand (mostly silicon dioxide) is not.

• Pour the salt and sand mixture into a pan.
• Add water. You don't need to add a lot of water. Solubility is a property that is affected by temperature, so more salt dissolves in hot water than cold water. It's okay if the salt doesn't dissolve at this point.
• Heat the water until the salt dissolves. If you get to where the water is boiling and there is still solid salt, you can add a bit more water.
• Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool until it's safe to handle.
• Pour the salt water into a separate container.
• Now collect the sand.
• Pour the salt water back into the empty pan.
• Heat the salt water until the water boils. Continue boiling it until the water is gone and you're left with the salt.

Another way you can separate the salt water and sand is to stir up the sand/salt water and pour it through a coffee filter to capture the sand.

How to Separate Sand and Salt Using Melting Point

Another method to separate components of a mixture is based on melting point . The melting point of salt is 1474°F (801°C), while that of sand is 3110°F (1710°C). Salt becomes molten at a lower temperature than sand. To separate the components, a mixture of salt and sand is heated above 801°C, yet below 1710°C. The molten salt may be poured off, leaving the sand. Usually, this is not the most practical method of separation because both temperatures are very high. While the collected salt would be pure, some liquid salt would contaminate the sand, like trying to separate sand from water by pouring off water.

Notes and Questions

You can simply let the water evaporate from the pan until you are left with the salt. If you had chosen to evaporate the water, one way you could have sped up the process would have been to pour the salt water into a large, shallow container. The increased surface area would have exchanged the rate at which water vapor could have entered the air.

The salt did not boil away with the water; this is because the boiling point of salt is much higher than that of water. The difference between boiling points can be used to purify water via distillation . In distillation, the water is boiled, but is then cooled so it will condense from vapor back into water and can be collected. Boiling water separates it from salt and other compounds, like sugar, but it has to be carefully controlled to separate it from chemicals that have lower or similar boiling points.

While this technique can be used to separate salt and water or sugar and water, it would not separate the salt and sugar from a mixture of salt, sugar, and water. Can you think of a way to separate sugar and salt?

Ready for something more challenging? Try purifying salt from rock salt .

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How to Separate a Mixture of Sand & Salt

How to Separate Copper Sulfate & Sand

The separation of mixtures is a fundamental science experiment that is performed in many classrooms around the world to teach students the basics of procedures like filtration, heating, and evaporation. When attempting to separate a mixture of sand and salt, you'll need some standard lab equipment like glass containers, filter paper and a bunsen burner.

Fill a test tube about half-way with the sand-salt mixture.

Pour water into the test tube. Use enough water to completely submerge the sand-salt mixture.

Stir or shake the mixture for a few minutes so that the salt dissolves in the water. The sand is insoluble, so it will remain visible.

Curl a piece of filter paper into a cone shape and place it in a filter funnel.

Pour the mixture through the filter funnel into a crucible or evaporating basin. The filter paper will hold back the sand and only allow the salt solution to pass through it.

Place the crucible containing the salt solution on a tripod, and heat the bottom of it with a bunsen burner. After a while, the water will evaporate, leaving only the salt crystals behind.

Place the wet filter paper with the sand under a heat lamp or leave it in the sun to dry it out.

Scrape the salt crystals out of the crucible. You should now be left with a pile of sand and a pile of salt, having successfully separated the two from the mixture.

Things You'll Need

As a general rule, you should always wear protective eyewear when heating materials with a bunsen burner.

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• Practical Chemistry: Separating Sand and Salt
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About the Author

Along with SEO experience, Wes Walcott has been writing since 2009. He has written for various online publications including Kotaku and Gamespot. Walcott has his technical writing certification from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing management from the University of Guelph.

Photo Credits

Verrerie de laboratoire. image by Photon BLEU from Fotolia.com