How would you separate the components of a mixture of ......?

Question

HOW would you separate the components of a mixture of ......benzoic acid and Na2SO4 and recover the two separated substances???


When

SOLUBLE IN:
Benzoic Acid
.........cold water = NO
.........hot water = YES
.........3M HCl = NO
.........3M NaOH = Yes
Mg(OH)2
.........cold water = NO
.........hot water = NO
.........3M HCl = Yes
.........3M NaOH = NO


Na2SO4
.........cold water = YES
.........hot water = YES
.........3M HCl = YES
.........3M NaOH = Yes

Zn(OH)2
.........cold water = NO
.........hot water = NO
.........3M HCl = YES
.........3M NaOH = Yes

Could you separate the components of a mixture of benzoic acid, Mg(OH)2 and Na2SO4 by using only cold water and 3M HCl ??? How could I do this???

Answer 1

well in both 3M HCl benzoic acid is insoluble so it can be filtered out of that. Then in cold water Mg(OH)2 and will precipitate out. NaSO4 will always be in solution unless you boil it out but it will be separated.

So if benzoic acid is 1, Mg(OH)2 is 2, and NaSO4 is 3.
its 1, 2, 3 in 3 MHCl to remove 1
then cold water to remove 2
and youre left with a solution of Na2SO4 which can be boiled to retrieve the crystals if necessary.