Basics of Separation Methods:

The separations play a key role in the various branches of science and technology but they themselves form a unified branch of science. The subject of separation science essentially deals with the physical and chemical phenomena involved in achieving the separations. The outcome of separations is very much dependent upon the physicochemical principles resulting into separations. It also involves the development, application and reproducibility of several separation processes. The separations have assumed such a paramount importance that a common man has become familiar with the meaning of word separation. However, with its requirement and usage, the definition of separation has become a little complex. In the simplest terms, separation is defined as an operation in which a mixture is divided into at least two components having different compositions. But this particular definition has a limitation as it does not cover chiral separations in which molecules of same composition and chemical structure are involved. The molecules differ only in their stereochemistry. Thus, a broader definition of separation will be as under: "Separation is a process by which a mixture is divided in at least two components with different compositions or two types of molecules with the same composition but different stereochemistry."

After having learnt the definition of separation in true chemical sense, you should be clear about the different objectives for achieving separations:

i) Analysis of different constituents of a mixture.

ii) Procuring pure materials from complex mixtures.