---
title: Separating mixtures — how Mova does on the tests · Chemistry
description: Lesson 8 of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school: 4 of 10 tests right, exam 3 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# Separating mixtures

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**Tests:** 4 of 10 right · **Exam:** 3 of 4 right · **Kind:** plain · **Understood:** 7 of 14 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 8 of the chemistry course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/).

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### Test 1 · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Your friend says: "A magnet will pull all the cans out of the recycling." Is that right?

- **1.** No, magnets only pick up gold — **← Mova's choice** · score 0
- **2.** Only if the cans are wet — no support
- **3.** Yes, every can is magnetic, whatever metal it is made of — no support
- **4.** Only steel cans, aluminium cans are not attracted — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 8, line 10: «A magnet pulls out iron and steel things but not sand; aluminium cans are not picked up by a magnet.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «pick up» (+4); the same doer «magnet» (+4). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-6). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t1/)

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### Test 2 · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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What would happen if you tried to filter salt out of salty water with a coffee filter?

- **1.** The salt would be caught and stay behind in the filter — score 2
- **2.** The water would stay in the filter — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **3.** The salt would pass straight through, dissolved — **✓ the right answer** · score 4
- **4.** The salt would turn into sand — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 8, line 8: «Filter paper traps soil grains in muddy water, but filtered water is not safe to drink: germs and dissolved things pass through.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «filtered water» (+5). The right option, 3, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t2/)

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### Test 3 · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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"why are salt pans in hot sunny places, not in rainy old Wales" Best answer?

- **1.** Rain makes salt explode — **← Mova's choice** · score 4
- **2.** Cold seas have no salt — no support
- **3.** Salt is only ever found in the seas near the hot countries of the world — no support
- **4.** Sun and warmth evaporate the water, rain keeps adding more — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 8, line 9: «When salty water evaporates, the salt stays behind as crystals; sea salt is made this way in sunny places.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «make» (+2); the same thing acted on «sea salt» (+2). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t3/)

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### Test 4 · right ✓ {#t4}

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A detective cartoon says "every black pen has the same ink, so we can't tell which wrote the note." What's wrong?

- **1.** Pens can only be told apart by their smell — no support
- **2.** Chromatography can show which colours are in each pen's ink — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **3.** Nothing, because every black ink in the world is exactly the same — no support
- **4.** Ink can only be tested with fire — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 8, line 15: «Chromatography separates the colours in ink because they travel with water at different speeds; it has been used to check which pen wrote a note.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «colours» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t4/)

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### Test 5 · right ✓ {#t5}

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A ship has no fresh water but plenty of seawater. What could they do?

- **1.** Make fresh water by distilling or another desalting method — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 12
- **2.** Filter the seawater through a clean cloth to catch the salt — no support
- **3.** Freeze it and eat the salt — no support
- **4.** Leave it in a bucket to settle — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 12, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 8, line 14: «Ships and some dry countries make drinking water from seawater by distillation and other methods.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «make» (+4); the same thing acted on «drinking water» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t5/)

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### Test 6 · wrong ✗ {#t6}

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"mud in this jar's taking ages to sink, can I speed it up" Which of these would actually help?

- **1.** Stirring it every minute — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Shaking the jar very hard — no support
- **3.** Adding more mud — no support
- **4.** Spinning it fast, as hospitals spin blood — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t6/)

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### Test 7 · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Your sister wants to sort a big jar of mixed buttons fast. What is a good idea?

- **1.** Dissolve them all in a bowl of water — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Use sieves with different holes — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** Boil them in a big pan of water — no support
- **4.** Use a magnet to pull out the plastic buttons — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t7/)

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### Test 8 · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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Why does the salad spinner have holes in the inner basket but not the outer bowl?

- **1.** The holes let air dry the leaves — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Water escapes the basket and is caught in the bowl — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The bowl needs no holes because it is made of plastic — no support
- **4.** Holes make the basket spin much faster — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t8/)

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### Test 9 · right ✓ {#t9}

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Why don't the salt bits rise with the steam from salty water?

- **1.** Salt does not evaporate at boiling-water temperatures — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Salt turns into steam first — no support
- **3.** Salt is too scared of heat — no support
- **4.** The salt sticks to the inside of the lid and stays there until it cools — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t9/)

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### Test 10 · right ✓ {#t10}

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"colander, sieve, tea bag, coffee filter, what's the same about 'em" Best answer?

- **1.** They are all filters that let small bits through — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** They all dissolve whatever is put in them, so it can pass through — no support
- **3.** They all use magnets — no support
- **4.** They all heat things up — no support

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**Why:** Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/t10/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the recovery of salt from a solution of salt in water?

- **1.** The solution is left to stand until the salt floats — score 10
- **2.** A magnet is applied to the solution to extract the salt — no support
- **3.** The solution is passed through filter paper, which retains the salt — no support
- **4.** The water is permitted to evaporate, the salt remaining as crystals — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 16

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**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 16, against 10 for the next best. Its support: lesson 8, line 9: «When salty water evaporates, the salt stays behind as crystals; sea salt is made this way in sunny places.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «salt» (+4); the same circumstance (+4); the same action «stay» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓ {#e2}

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Identify the method most appropriate to the separation of steel paper clips from sand.

- **1.** The application of a magnet — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Dissolution in water — no support
- **3.** Chromatography — no support
- **4.** Distillation — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning water that has been filtered through paper.

- **1.** It is rendered sterile by the paper — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It may yet contain germs and dissolved substances and is not thereby rendered safe — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It is invariably safe for consumption, all impurities having been retained by the paper — no support
- **4.** It contains no substance whatsoever save water — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4}

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It is given that the steam from boiling salt water is condensed upon a cold surface. Ascertain the nature of the liquid obtained.

- **1.** Salt in a liquid, molten state — no support
- **2.** Water of greater salinity than the original — no support
- **3.** A mixture identical to the original — no support
- **4.** Pure water, devoid of salt — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 8, line 13: «Distillation is boiling a liquid and cooling the steam back to liquid; the drops are pure water, and the salt stays behind.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «pure water» (+2); the same property (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chemistry/8-separating-mixtures/e4/)

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- ← previous: [7. Oil and water, and things that won't mix](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chemistry/7-oil-and-water/)
- next →: [9. Changes you can undo and changes you can't](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chemistry/9-changes-you-can-and-cannot-undo/)
- ↑ back to [Chemistry](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chemistry/)