What do you do to separate sugar and salt?

Answer 1

One way to separate them would be to subject the mixture to a temperature high enough to melt the sugar (around 366.8°F or 186°C) in a dry and oxygen-free atmosphere. The sugar will still tend to caramelize however. You could burn off the sugar from a mixture leaving the salt behind, but this wouldn't really constitute separation since you would not be recovering the sugar.

You could also achieve some separation via electrolysis since sugar is fairly non-polar.

Since the molecules are quite different in size, you might also separate them via osmosis through a membrane with pores too small to pass sugar molecules.

Despite some misinformation, you cannot do it by dissolving in alcohol. Sucrose is NOT soluble in alcohol (at least not to any significant degree). If you add some water to the alcohol you start to get some solubility, but then you also increase the solubility of salt in the solution as well.

You could probably salt from sugar by dissolving the mixture in condensed anhydrous ammonia. The solubility of sucrose in condensed ammonia is about 72% sucrose in ammonia while sodium chloride is essentially insoluble in ammonia. You need some pretty cold conditions to do this though since ammonia is liquid in the range from -77 to -33 °C.

Answer 2

Separating two highly soluble components can be tricky, and it matters whether you want to get all of both materials in pure form or just some of one material. It matters if you want to do it quickly.

A mixture of salt and sugar can be separated by the method called as fractional crystallization.

The process works by separating the components with different solubilities by evaporating the solution until the least soluble component crystallizes out.

There are alternative methods under the general category of extraction.

Liquid-liquid extraction, solvent extraction and partitioning, separate compounds based on their relative solubilities in two immiscible liquids.

Answer 3

You can separate salt from sugar by using organic solvents. What this will do is dissolve the sugar and leave the salt, which can then be filtered.

Answer 4

The solution of salt is not as the solution of sugar

Answer 5

Put the mixture in alcohol and only the sugar will dissolve, then you can take the salt out, and when the water evaporates, the sugar will be left.

Answer 6

Put the mixture in alcohol, stir, and only the sugar will dissolve. then take out the salt and boil the sugar/alcohol solution so the alcohol evaporates and only the sugar is left.