How To Separate Zinc Powder From Sand

Zinc products can run the gamut in application from cosmetics to medicine, but finding zinc can be tough. Some zinc powder is found naturally, but it is usually with other non-essential minerals. The powdered zinc found in sand could be isolated by following a few steps. Some chemical compounds needed to separate the zinc from silicon dioxide (sand) can be ordered online or found at your local science labs. With a little patience and moderate science know-how, you can separate this heterogeneous mixture into its key components.

Things You'll Need

• Beaker or vial
• Goggles
• Cheesecloth (or strainer small enough to handle sand)
• Nitric acid
• Sodium carbonate
• Distilled water
• Bunsen burner

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Instructions

• 1

  Safety first. Put on goggles.

• 2

  Place the sand in a beaker and fill with distilled water. Stir. This process will dissolve salt and other water-soluble contaminants that might interfere with the zinc extraction. Rinse the sand, using the cheesecloth or strainer to keep the sand. Zinc oxide (found with sand) is not water soluble, so this water can be safely discarded.

• 3

  Add nitric acid to the sand. The nitric acid will convert the zinc oxide to zinc nitrate. Add water to the sand and zinc nitrate mixture. The water will dissolve the zinc nitrate. Strain that water and discard the sand.

• 4

  Use sodium carbonate to convert the zinc nitrate to the products sodium nitrate and zinc carbonate. Filter the water, leftover acids and sodium nitrate out of the solution, leaving you behind with pure zinc carbonate.

• 5

  Heat the vial with a Bunsen burner. The heat will activate the zinc carbonate to give you zinc oxide, the original product you wanted, but without the sand.