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General Chemistry 1
Activity Sheet
Quarter 1 – MELC 4
Week 1
Simple Separation Techniques

REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS

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General Chemistry 1
Activity Sheet No. 4 - Simple Separation Techniques
First Edition, 2020

Published in the Philippines

By the Department of Education
Region 6 – Western Visayas

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This Learning Activity Sheet is developed by DepEd Region 6 – Western Visayas.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this learning resource may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical
without written permission from the DepEd Regional Office 6 – Western Visayas.

Development Team of Activity Sheet

Writers: Joselyn C. Valenciano

Content Editor: Moonyeen C. Rivera, Rusell V. Apiladas
Language Editor: Steven A. Dequiňa
Layout Artists: Mara Jamaica B. Floreno, Aires B. Navales
Division of Cadiz City Management Team:
Ma. Lorlinie M. Ortillo
May P. Pascual
Moonyeen C. Rivera
Rona dela Torre

Regional Management Team

Ramir B. Uytico
Pedro T. Escobarte, Jr.
Elena P. Gonzaga
Donald T. Genine
Rovel R. Salcedo
Moonyeen C. Rivera
Anita S. Gubalane
Minda L. Soldevilla
Daisy L. Lopez

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Introductory Message
Welcome to General Chemistry 1!

The Learning Activity Sheet is a product of the collaborative efforts of

the Schools Division of Cadiz City and DepEd Regional Office VI - Western
Visayas through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD).
This is developed to guide the learning facilitators (teachers, parents and
responsible adults) in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to
12 Basic Education Curriculum.

The Learning Activity Sheet is self-directed instructional materials

aimed to guide the learners in accomplishing activities at their own pace and
time using the contextualized resources in the community. This will also
assist the learners in acquiring the lifelong learning skills, knowledge and
attitudes for productivity and employment.

For learning facilitator:

The General Chemistry 1 Activity Sheet will help you facilitate the
teaching and learning activities specified in each Most Essential Learning
Competency (MELC) with minimal or no face-to-face encounter between you
and learner. This will be made available to the learners with the
references/links to ease the independent learning.

For the learner:

The General Chemistry 1 Activity Sheet is developed to help you

continue learning even if you are not in school. This learning material
provides you with meaningful and engaging activities for independent
learning. Being an active learner, carefully read and understand the
instructions then perform the activities and answer the assessments. This
will be returned to your facilitator on the agreed schedule.

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Name of Learner:__________________________________________________________
Grade and Section:________________________ Date: __________________________

GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1 ACTIVITY SHEET NO. 4

Simple Separation Techniques

I. Learning Competency with Code

Describe various simple separation techniques such as distillation,
Chromatography,etc. (STEM_GC11MPIab-12)

II. Background Information for Learners

Chemical mixtures are part of your day to day life. From your usual
morning chocolate drink to your nightly skincare routine, mixtures of
chemical substances are present. Since you are dealing with mixtures most
of the time, it is important that as Science Technology Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) student, you understand what mixture is.
Differentiating one type from the others, and identifying the appropriate
technique in separating the components of a specific type of mixture are the
things you need to understand. You might not be aware of it, but some of
these techniques are already familiar to you like the way you decant water
when washing the rice before cooking it. Or have you ever tried to avoid eating
the raisins from your salad by carefully pushing them aside? Have you
observed your mother as she extracts the coconut milk from the coconut meat
using a cheese cloth?

While many of these techniques are already familiar to you, there are
more of these which you use in the laboratory. Separating mixtures is basic
yet crucial skill to master as a STEM learner. You use it almost all the time
while working in the laboratory.

Now, you will learn about these techniques by answering the series of
activities in this Learning Activity Sheet.

MIXTURES

Mixtures are combination of pure substances in which the substances

have retained their chemical properties, thus has not undergone chemical
change. These mixtures can be uniformly or non-uniformly combined.
Since all the chemical substances in a mixture retains their chemical
properties, these substances can be isolated by means of physical separation.

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WAYS OF SEPARATING MIXTURES

Extraction
This technique uses a solvent to selectively dissolve one component of
a solid mixture. It can separate a soluble solid from an insoluble one.

Decantation
This process separates a liquid from insoluble and heavy solid sediment
by carefully pouring the liquid into another container without
disturbing the solids.

Sublimation
Sublimation is a process by which a solid change directly to gaseous
state without forming into a liquid. This process involves the separation
of a solid which sublimes from other solids that do not. The vapor of the
sublimed solid can be cooled and be deposited again as solid.

Distillation
The process works under the differences of boiling points. In a mixture
of liquids with different boiling points, the liquid with lower boiling point
changes to gaseous state first. This can be collected and converted back
to the liquid state.

Centrifugation
The process involves the setting of tiny suspended particles using a
centrifuge –a device spinning up to 30,000 rpm (rotations per minute).
Separation is achieved by spinning a vessel containing material at high
speed; the centrifugal force pushes heavier materials to the outside of
the vessel.

Crystallization
This process involves the lowering of temperature of solutions so that
the solids that are dissolved in liquid crystallizes out.

Chromatography
This involves separation of solution by using a solvent to breakdown its
components (mobile phase) and allowing it to flow along a stationary
material (stationary phase) at different rates. Each chemical substance
has a distinct rate of flow which separates it from other chemical
components in a mixture. There are several types of chromatography.
Below are the descriptions of each type:
• Liquid Chromatography. It is used to analyze metal ions and organic
compounds in solutions. Liquid chromatography uses liquids which
may incorporate hydrophilic, insoluble molecules.
• Gas Chromatography. It is an analytical technique used to separate
the chemical components of a sample mixture and then detect them
to determine their presence or absence and/or how much is present.
These chemical components are usually organic molecules or gases.

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 • Thin-layer Chromatography uses an absorbent material on flat
glass or plastic plates. This is a simple and rapid method to check
the purity of an organic compound.
• Paper Chromatography is one of the most common types of
chromatography. It uses a strip of paper as the stationary phase.
Capillary action is used to pull the solvents up through the paper and
separate the solutes.

Filtration
This technique separates a fine and light solid through the use of
porous material as filter.

Evaporation
This is a method of heating a homogenous mixture in order to drive off,
in the form of vapor, a volatile liquid to make the dissolved solid dry.

To understand more about the different ways of separating mixture you

may watch in you tube through this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_GHqyG9jsM

III. Activity Proper

Activity 1: Identifying Techniques in Separating Mixtures

Directions: Read and analyze the situations below. Identify which technique
in separating mixtures is appropriate to use in order to answer the problems
of the science students in each situation. Write your answer in a separate
sheet of paper.

1. Gina wants to know the different dyes which the manufacturer mixed
together to make the black ink of her water-based marker. She knew from
her General Chemistry class that she can separate these colors by using a
solvent to breakdown the component dyes and she can separate them by
allowing the mixture to flow along a stationary material like a filter paper.
A. What solvent will she use?

___________________________________________________________________

B. What technique will she use to separate the different dye colors?

__________________________________________________________________

2. You are asked by your mother to cook rice. You added rice and water
on the pot and wash the rice, then you allowed the rice grains to settle at
the bottom of the pot before slowly pouring the water out. What technique
are you using?

___________________________________________________________________

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3. You learned from your Chemistry class that the boiling point of ethyl
alcohol is at 78⁰C. As it reaches this temperature, ethanol will start to
evaporate. You are given a bottle of 70% ethyl alcohol.

A. What do you think composes the other 30% in that bottle? What is its
boiling point?
___________________________________________________________________

B. How are you going to separate the ethanol from the other component
in the mixture? Take note that you are just asked to separate the
components but not to contain them.
___________________________________________________________________

C. What technique did you describe in Question B?

___________________________________________________________________

Activity 2:
Directions: The illustrations below show the different techniques in
separating mixture. Identify the technique shown in the illustration and
describe each. Do this in a separate sheet of paper.

1. ____________

2. ____________

3. ____________

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Activity 3:

FUN IN FORENSIC SCIENCE! Forensic science is a path less travelled

especially here in the Philippines. It is a study which deals with applying
scientific methods and processes into solving crimes.
Help detectives solve crimes using your knowledge on the different
techniques in separating mixtures.

Case No. 1

In a community, a burglary case emerged and evidences were collected

by detectives, then submitted to the laboratory for testing. A forensic scientist
extracts the DNA of a perpetrator from the crime scene by swabbing a possible
genetic material from a discarded styro cup. He then puts the swabbing cotton
in a vial containing isopropanol to dissolve all other materials except the
genetic material which will be used for DNA testing. The vial is then spun at
very high speed to allow the genetic materials to settle and be isolated. What
are the techniques in separating mixture done by the forensic scientist?
________________________________________________________________
Case No. 2

Detectives are investigating a possible arson case. In order to find out

if accelerants (a substance used to initiate fire e.g. gasoline) are present,
detectives gathered remains of the fire, and sent it to the laboratory for testing.
The forensic scientist puts the remains into a sealed chamber with an
electronic detector attached to a computer with database of all known
accelerants common in arson. The chamber is then heated to convert the
accelerant, if present in the sample, into gas. The gas is captured by the
detector, and analyzed by the computer to identify the type of accelerant
present based on the rate to which they appear as gas. The computer then
gives a graph to summarize the identification and amount of gasses present
in the sample. What specific mixture separation technique was used in this
case?

IV. Reflection

Complete the statements below.

I understand
___________________________________________________________________

I don’t understand
___________________________________________________________________

I need more information about

___________________________________________________________________

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V. Answer Key

VI. Links and/or Other References

REFERENCES
Andarada, Hazel G. (2015) Laboratory Manual in Chemistry – 11 (General
Chemistry 1)

Petrucci et. al. (2017). General Chemistry : Principles and Modern

Applications – Eleventh Edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_GHqyG9jsM
https://www.britannica.com/science/vacuum-physics
https://www.biocompare.com/Lab-Equipment/Laboratory-Centrifuges
https://www.soinc.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_files/forensics/For_Ch
romatography3.pdf

PHOTO CREDITS
https://images.app.goo.gl/DRnmPxB3bwrqQCFWA
https://images.app.goo.gl/brKeH5o3LBbJXKxk7
https://images.app.goo.gl/QvPzTaVxQES4oJMk8
https://images.app.goo.gl/YfyCFsgjyU6djao3A
https://images.app.goo.gl/UBc9RR7XhJm1srP69