Chapter 5: Separation of Substances
The fifth chapter of Class 6 Science, Separation of Substances, introduces students to the different methods used to separate mixtures into their individual components. Since most substances in our daily life are mixtures, separation becomes important for obtaining pure materials or making substances usable. This chapter explains practical techniques that are applied in cooking, industries, and everyday activities.
The chapter begins with simple methods like handpicking, winnowing, and sieving, which are commonly used to separate impurities or particles of different sizes. It then explains more advanced techniques like sedimentation, decantation, and filtration, which help separate insoluble solids from liquids. The process of evaporation is discussed as a way to obtain salt from seawater, while condensation explains how vapours can be cooled back into liquids. Another interesting method is sublimation, where solids like camphor change directly into gas and then back to solid. With the help of NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Science, students can revise textbook exercises that test their understanding of which separation method is suitable for a given situation. The NCERT Exemplar for Class 6 Science Solutions goes a step further by providing thought-based questions such as why filtration cannot be used to separate salt from water, or why handpicking is ineffective when impurities are very small.
Important points of the chapter include:
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Need for separation of substances.
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Methods: handpicking, winnowing, sieving, filtration, evaporation, condensation, sublimation.
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Practical applications in daily life and industries.
By practicing NCERT and Exemplar questions, students understand that separation is not just a science concept but a useful skill applied in cooking, agriculture, and purification processes. This chapter strengthens observation, reasoning, and application-based learning.