Separating mixtures game: filter, decant, distil…
A chemistry game for learning how to separate mixtures by thinking like in a lab. A mixture appears drawn in a beaker, just as it would look: sand settled at the bottom, oil floating on water, iron filings among sulphur, or a one-colour solution where nothing can be told apart. You choose how to separate it: filter, sieve, use a magnet, decant, evaporate, distil or run a chromatography. On medium you are also asked which property each method relies on and whether the mixture is homogeneous or heterogeneous; on hard you choose which steps to follow and in what order.
Chemistry · Primary, Secondary
The magnet works because iron is magnetic; the filter, because sand does not dissolve; decanting, because oil is less dense than water and does not mix with it; distilling, because alcohol boils before water. The game explains with each answer how it is done and what it relies on, which is what science exams ask for.
The drawing shows the difference between a heterogeneous mixture, where you can see the grains or layers, and a homogeneous one, where what is dissolved only tints the liquid. That makes it clear why salty water cannot be filtered and has to be evaporated.
Separating sand, salt and iron filings needs a plan: magnet first, then dissolve in water, filter and evaporate. The wrong options are real mistakes, like trying to filter two dry solids or evaporating before filtering, and a sequence that would also work is never marked as wrong.
"A beaker of dry sand and salt appears. How do you separate them? Filtering straight away does nothing: there is no liquid. First dissolve in water: the salt dissolves and the sand does not. Then filter, and the sand stays on the paper. Finally evaporate the water and the salt is left as crystals, as in salt pans."
Prefer to learn without screens? Try this analogue version:
In a glass, mix a spoonful of sand (or soil) and one of salt.
Add water, stir well and filter it through a coffee filter or kitchen paper.
Leave the filtered liquid on a plate in the sun or by a radiator for a few days.
Look at the salt crystals left behind and note which method you used at each step.
If you like The Lab, these activities work similar skills:
Multiple choice on homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures, solutions and separation methods, with an explanation for each answer.
Another chemistry game: melting, evaporation, condensation and freezing, which are behind distillation and salt pans.
Draw a dot with a black felt-tip on a strip of kitchen paper, dip the end in water and watch the colours separate.
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