Which of the following is structure of a separating funnel?

Solution

Chemistry ma’am · 3 steps

Look for the stopcock at the bottom: a separating funnel must let you drain one layer at a time.

1. What it does. A separating funnel is used in differential extraction. Two immiscible liquids, such as water and ether, settle into two layers. You run the lower layer out from the bottom and keep the upper layer inside.
2. Parts to expect. To do that job it needs a stopper on top so you can shake it, a wide pear-shaped body where the layers separate, and a stopcock above the stem to control the draining.

   Option	What the drawing shows	Stopper and stopcock?
   (a)	Pear-shaped body with a stoppered neck and a tap above the stem: separating funnel	Both present
   (b)	Plain conical funnel, used for ordinary gravity filtration	Neither
   (c)	Cylindrical funnel with a perforated plate: Buchner-type funnel for suction filtration	Neither
   (d)	Bent glass piece with a side tube: receiver adapter used in distillation	Neither

3. So. Only (a) has the stopper, the pear-shaped body and the stopcock, so (a) is the separating funnel.

The idea to keep. Match apparatus to its job. A separating funnel separates immiscible layers, so it must close at the top and have a tap at the bottom. A funnel with no tap cannot separate anything.

Answer from the NTA final answer key. Solution by PrepWiser.