Re: sugar vs. salt

[William Beaty <billb@ESKIMO.COM>]

On Fri, 2 Apr 1999, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

> I am not a chemist but I think that the process does not have to be as
> exotic as separation of uranium isotopes. <snip>
> The most radical approach would be to decompose
> both substances (separating Na, Cl, C and H) and to reproduce them
> from the elements.

Yeah!  Vaporize the mixture, then use a mass spectrometer to separate the
elements, then dump the Na and Cl together (synthesizing the sucrose from
CHO might be a bit challenging.)

Here's a simpler way: dry the mixture to lower the surface conductivity,
then shake it thoroughly.  Collisions between the sugar and salt will
(maybe?) cause opposite contact charging.  Possibly select a container for
the shaking process, where contact with the container's walls aids the
creation of opposite charges on the two types of grains. (Use a cup carved
from NaCl?) Then simply pour the mixture through a strong horizontal
e-field ( between oppositely charged plates,) and the stream will separate
into sugar and salt "beams."  Vary the field in order to steer the beams
into appropriate bins.

If this works, it might even make for an impressive lecture demo.

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