Question

how would you seperate copper from a muxture of salt, water, magnesium and iron using filtration equipment and hydro chloric acid

Answer 1

To separate copper from a mixture with salt, water, magnesium, and iron, dissolve salt in water, use filtration to remove undissolved metals, add HCl to react with magnesium and iron, and use multiple filtrations to isolate copper from the mixture.

Step-by-step explanation:

To separate copper from a mixture of salt (likely sodium chloride, NaCl), water, magnesium and iron using filtration equipment and hydrochloric acid (HCl), you can follow these steps:

1. Dissolve the salt in water by adding the mixture to water; the salt will dissolve, forming a homogeneous solution, while copper, iron, and magnesium will remain undissolved.

2. Use filtration equipment to separate the undissolved metals (copper, iron, and magnesium) from the saline solution. After filtration, copper, iron, and magnesium will be in the filter, while the salt solution will pass through.

3. Add hydrochloric acid to the mixture of copper, iron, and magnesium. Magnesium reacts with HCl to form magnesium chloride (MgCl₂) and hydrogen gas. This will leave behind copper and iron.

4. Filter the solution again. Now, copper and iron will be in the filter, while the magnesium chloride will pass through with the hydrochloric acid.

5. To separate copper from iron, you can exploit their different chemical properties. Iron readily reacts with hydrochloric acid to form iron(III) chloride (FeCl₃) and hydrogen gas, so further addition of HCl to the copper and iron will dissolve the iron, leaving copper behind.

Once iron dissolves, filtration can be used one final time to obtain pure copper on the filter.