Is it physically possible to separate table sallt, sodium chloride, NaCl, from table sugar, sucrose? Explain your reasoning.

Here is what you can do easily. Get a bottle of mineral oil, and a small amount of kerosene.

Next, test the solubility of salt, then sugar in each of the solvents. Sugar should dissolve in mineral oil, and/or kerosene, but salt won't . But do the test and find out.

My intuition tells me that the person posing this question expects the answer to be no. My best guess is that it can be separated by using different solvents. The site below provides the solubility of NaCl in various solvents. I could not, and I looked for 15 minutes or so, an equivalent table for sugar. However, I suspect that with enough diligence and/or experimental details in the lab, one could find a solvent in which table salt was more or less soluble than sugar and it could be separated that way. Actually, though, I have no proof of that.

People I understand your need to express yourself but please if you don't know or you are not sure how to answer this question just don't post anything. I only waste my time reading all the I am not sure or may be. Respond only if you know the answer. Thank you

Yes, it is physically possible to separate table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) from table sugar (sucrose).

The separation can be done using the principle of solubility. Salt and sugar have different solubilities in water, which can be exploited to separate them.

Here's how you can perform the separation experimentally:

1. Start with a mixture of salt and sugar in a container.
2. Add water to the mixture and stir it well to dissolve both substances.
3. The sugar being highly soluble in water, will readily dissolve, forming a homogeneous solution.
4. The salt, on the other hand, has good solubility but is not as soluble as sugar. It will also dissolve to some extent, but not completely.
5. Allow the mixture to settle for some time to allow any undissolved salt to settle at the bottom of the container.
6. Carefully decant or filter the liquid solution, separating it from the solid salt at the bottom.
7. The collected liquid will mainly contain sugar, while the residue will be predominantly salt.
8. To recover the sugar, you can evaporate the water from the liquid solution using a process called evaporation. Heat the solution gently until the water evaporates, leaving behind solid sugar.
9. The solid salt obtained from the filtration step can be further dried if necessary to remove any residual moisture.

By following these steps, you can physically separate table salt (NaCl) from table sugar (sucrose). It is essential to note that this method is based on the difference in the solubilities of the two substances and can be utilized in various laboratory settings.