How can a solute be separated from a solvent?
1 Answer
Both a solute and a solvent are components of a solution which is a homogenous mixture. Many solutions in chemistry are aqueous solutions.
Since the solution is a physical mixture, separation involves using a physical process such as evaporation or distillation.The water can be evaporated leaving the dry solute behind and then the water can be condensed.
Chromatography can also be used to separate different solvents such as in high performance liquid chromatography. In a chromatography, different solutes adhere to medium due to intermolecular bonding. For examples in protein purification, a column of resin beads can be used to separate different protein solutes based on hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties.
Simple and concise explanation are on this site: http://www.docbrown.info/page01/ElCpdMix/EleCmdMix2c.htm
