Question #c897e
2 Answers
No, you cannot use filtration to separate the two.
Explanation:
A solute (ex. salt) is dissolved in the solvent (ex. water), and filtration cannot be used to separate the components of the solution.
Consider a salt water solution that consists of dissolved salt in water. You wouldn't be able to separate the salt and the water, because the salt particles are so small that they pass through the filter.
However, if you had a sand and water mixture, you could separate the sand from the water through filtration. Sand does not dissolve in water, and its relatively large particles cannot pass through the filter.
No you cannot do that.
Explanation:
A solution does not contain any particulates, it consists of solvated ions, so the dimensions of the dissolved species are only on the atomic or ionic scale. Therefore, even using the smallest pore size filter media you cannot separate the dissolved substance (solute) from the liquid (solvent).
Filtration can be used to separate particulate solids dispersed in a liquid, provided the mean particle size of the dispersed particles exceeds the mean pore size of the filter medium. However, these sorts of systems are not solutions comprising a solute and solvent, but dispersions comprising a dispersed and continuous phase. Their behaviour is very different from that of solutions.
