Year 10 - Science
Potable water: including sedimentation
Separating substances
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores purification techniques, including filtration, crystallisation, and distillation. It explains formulations, uses chromatographic methods to identify pure and impure substances, and interprets chromatograms with Rf values. The emphasis is on accurate measurements.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain what potable water is and describe how it can be obtained from groundwater and seawater.
Key Notes
- 'Potable' and 'pure' water are not the same substance.
- Water used in analysis must not contain any dissolved ions.
- The method used to obtain potable water depends on the water source.
- Sedimentation, filtration and chlorination are used to obtain potable water from groundwater and fresh water sources.
- Desalination of seawater creates potable water by distillation or reverse osmosis.
Vocabulary To Learn
- pure: A single element or compound that is not mixed with any other substance.
- potable: Water that is safe to drink.
- sterilisation: The process of killing bacteria and other living microorganisms.
- desalination: The process of removing dissolved salts from seawater.
- reverse osmosis: The movement of solvent through a semipermeable membrane by applying excess pressure on the solution. This process can remove dissolved solutes from water.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils tend to think that all water is the same. Pupils tend to forget that non-visible substances are also found in water.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
'Potable' and 'pure' water are not the same substance. Water used in analysis must not contain any dissolved ions.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'pure'
A single element or compound that is not mixed with any other substance. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils tend to think that all water is the same. Pupils tend to forget that non-visible substances are also found in water. Correction: Stress that pure water only contains H₂O molecules. Other types of water may include varying amounts of dissolved salts, other solids or micro-organisms. Stress that microbes must be killed for water to be potable, but are too difficult to remove.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Chromatography: paper Study Guide
- Chromatography: separating a mixture of inks Study Guide
- Comparing types of chromatography: including gas chromatography Study Guide
- Crystallisation Study Guide
- Distillation: fractional distillation Study Guide
- Distillation: separating a mixture of inks Study Guide
- Distillation: simple distillation Study Guide
- Filtration Study Guide
- Interpreting chromatograms Study Guide
- Potable water Study Guide
- Separating mixtures Study Guide
- Separating mixtures (including formulations) Study Guide
- Solutions Study Guide
- Wastewater treatment Study Guide
- Water sample analysis: dissolved solids Study Guide
- Water sample analysis: distillation Study Guide
- Water sample analysis: pH Study Guide
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