Q&A for How to Separate Salt and Sugar

The simplest method would be to manually separate the salt and sugar either by handpicking or using a sieve.

There are many ways you can separate mixtures without using a strainer or handpicking technique. Choosing the correct method of separation depends on the nature of the mixture you're trying to separate. 1) Decantation separates immiscible liquids based on different densities. 2) Chromatography can also be used to separate different types of mixtures. However, this method requires laboratory expertise and equipment. 3) Distillation separates liquids by exploiting differences in boiling points (i.e. selective boiling and condensation).

Since sand is insoluble and sugar is soluble, pour water into the mixture and pour the mixture into a strainer. The sand should be left behind. The water in the sugar solution should be evaporated too, so the sugar should be left behind.

You can use a microscope; it will show differences in the size of the grains clearly.

Add water to the mixture and swirl to let the salt dissolve. Pour through a filter into another container. The sand will remain in the filter, the salt water will leak through. Then just evaporate the water to regain the salt.

Leave the solution to evaporate for a few days. Once all the water has evaporated, sugar crystals will be present on the sides of the container.

The name of separation process is centrifugation. It is the process of the separation of insoluble materials from a liquid when normal filtering does not work well.

Dissolving and evaporating mixture. The salt or sugar solution dissolves and evaporates, leaving the sugar or salt solution in a crystal form.

Liquid. Anywhere above 0 (and below 100) degrees Celsius will be in liquid/aqueous form.

In the article, there is an example with salt and sand - it works the same for salt and pepper. Use warm water to dissolve the salt, strain the mixture to separate the pepper and evaporate the water to get solid salt again.