Separating mixture through solvent extraction.
Requirements.
Piece of plain paper.
Evaporating dish.
Mortar and pestle.
Nuts.
Procedure.
Remove outside covering of the grounds.
Put the nuts in a mortar and grind them using pestle.
Add propanone and continue grinding for a while.
Leave the mixture to settle, and then decant the resulting solution into an evaporating
dish.
Leave the solution in the sun for some time.
Smear a drop of the remaining solution on a piece of paper.
Hold the paper towards light and try to look through it.
Discus and record your observation.
Questions from the experiment.
1. Explain why the solvent is used in the extraction of oil from nuts.
2. Name other seeds that can be used in place of nuts.
Observation and explanation.
Solvent extraction is the use of a solvent to dissolve a substance from a mixture to
Separate the components of the mixture.
A solvent can selectively dissolve one or more of the components of a mixture.
Propanone is a solvent for oil and therefore dissolves oil from the nuts.
When you put propanone solution in the sun, it quickly evaporates, leaving oil behind.
Oil seed like corn, sunflower, castor oil and cotton seed can be used in place of nuts.
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