The following is the report of an experiment performed on SCP-4742-1, performed by Researcher Gabe ███████, Researcher Dallas ████, and Researcher Zach ██████,.
A Solution for a Non-Issue
The problem caused by incident 4742.1 has been a great deal of trouble for the foundation. Granted, we have found a way to deal with SCP-4742-2, but it still creates a great deal of work for the foundation. I came up with the idea of a recycling program for the materials within SCP-4742-2. If we can find a way to all of the substances so they are all pure substances, then The Foundation can sell them and generate extra revenue. The question is, how do we separate the different substances within SCP-4742-2?
Refresher
A quick refresher for those of you reading this who might need one: SCP-4742-2, in this case, is a mixture. A mixture is a combination of two or more different pure substances. They come in two types, heterogeneous and homogeneous. In heterogeneous mixtures, the substances that make up the mixture keep their own properties. In homogeneous mixtures, the substances that make up the mixture all have one set of properties and are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. A mixture can be separated by exploiting physical properties of the substances within it. Chemical properties cannot be exploited to separate a mixture because a mixture is not bonded chemically. The different ways of separating mixtures are called separation methods and will be demonstrated throughout this lab report.
The Procedure
Thankfully, my colleagues and I have discovered an answer to this question. We took a small sample of SCP-4742-2, which I will call the 'beach sample', and, on a small scale, separated the different materials within it. The procedure is fairly simple.
- Mass out a 100 mL beaker.
- Pour the beach sample into the beaker, then mass out the now-filled beaker.
- Mass out a 50 mL beaker.
- Pour the beach sample into a dish.
- Place a thin barrier over a magnet and sift through the sample until all iron shavings have been removed.
- Put the iron shavings into the 50 mL beaker, then mass it out.
- Fill the previously used 100 mL beaker about halfway with distilled water.
- Pour the beach sample into the 100 mL beaker.
- Mass out a new dish.
- Use a pair of tweezers to pluck out the styrofoam in the beaker, and place the styrofoam into the new dish.
- Mass out the dish with the styrofoam inside of it.
- Mass out a flask and a piece of filter paper.
- Prepare a filtering apparatus with filter paper inside of a funnel that drains into the aforementioned flask.
- Pour the contents of the 100 mL beaker into the funnel.
- After all of the water has been filtered into the flask, bring the water inside of the flask to a boil. Allow all of the water to boil out of the flask on a hot plate. Ensure the saltwater does not caramelize by removing the flask from the hot plate, sloshing the water around, and placing it back on the hot plate.
- When all the water has boiled away, mass out the flask with the precipitated salt still inside.
- Allow the sand to dry and then mass it out.
The Procedure, Explained
The procedure is started out with massing the beach sample inside of a beaker and the beaker itself. This is done to calculate the mass of the beach sample. The sample is poured into a dish to be more effectively sifted through. A barrier is placed over the magnet so the iron shavings do not get stuck to the magnet and throw off the mass measurement. The 50 mL beaker is measured along with the iron shavings in the beaker to calculate the mass of the iron shavings. The sample is mixed with distilled water to make the styrofoam particles float so they can be picked out with tweezers. The new dish is massed to calculate the mass of the styrofoam later. After removing the styrofoam from the beaker, put it into the new dish and mass it. The flask and filter paper are massed in order to calculate the mass of the salt and sand later on in the procedure. After filtering the saltwater, you will have sand that you should let dry before weighing it. The water particles surrounding the sand particles will throw off the measurement. Now you must boil the saltwater inside of the flask so the water will be gone and the salt will precipitate. While the water boils, make sure to take the flask off of the hot plate and swish the water around when the salt starts to caramelize. If you don't, the flask could explode. Once the sand is dry and only salt is inside the flask, you can find the mass of them both.
Composition
Below is a table of the masses of the beach sample's constituent substances and their percentage composition within the sample.
| Item Name |
Mass (g) |
Percent Composition |
| Styrofoam |
0.02 |
0.1% |
| Sand |
1.04 |
6.15% |
| Iron |
2.22 |
13.1% |
| Salt |
13.64 |
80.61% |
Much to our surprise, the salt took up the greatest portion of the sample’s mass. I had personally hypothesized that the iron would take up the largest portion of the sample’s mass because it is a metal. The styrofoam seemed to take up hardly any mass, as one would assume, given that there was very little of it.
Scientific and Experimental Error
Like anything in science, this experiment carries a margin for error. The error here is especially noticeable in the mass of the beach sample. According to the sum of the substances that make it up, the mass of the sample is 16.92 grams. However, when the mass of the sample is calculated through its mass inside of a beaker, it comes out to be 13.12 grams. The percent error here comes out to be 22.46%, which is not ideal. It should be noted that the composition percentages were calculated using the mass 13.12 grams in order to keep consistency. Given the poor percent error for the mass of the sample, the percent composition and mass of the pure substances should be taken with a grain of salt. They are approximate and by no means accepted standards.
This experiment relied on common separation techniques for mixtures. The iron was retrieved by using magnetism, which exploits the, you guessed it, magnetism of the iron. The sand was separated from the mixture through filtration, which exploits particle size. Sand particles are far larger than water particles, so the saltwater can pass through filter paper while the sand cannot. The salt was separated from the mixture using distillation, the method of exploiting boiling points of different substances in a mixture. When the boiling points of two substances are different, the substance inside the mixture that has the lower boiling point will evaporate and leave the mixture, separating it. The biggest problem with the experiment was how the styrofoam was separated from the mixture. Pulling a pure substance out of a mixture with tweezers does not fall under any of the accepted methods of separation. Granted, it works fine, but for the sake of experimental ease, it could be changed. In hindsight, a separation funnel could have been used. A separation funnel is a tall glass tube with a stopper and valve at the bottom. It is comparable to a large burette. The separation funnel exploits differences in density of the different substances that make up a mixture. It is mainly used for separating liquids. This is done by pouring the mixture into separation funnel, then slowly letting out the bottom layer of the mixture. This could have been done to separate the styrofoam after the iron was removed and before the sand was removed. The saltwater and sand would flow through the funnel, and the styrofoam would be left. It could be removed, dried, and massed. The problem with this is that salt dissolved in the water could be lost when the styrofoam dries. While it is not a traditional separation technique, ’Tweezing’ seems to be the best way of separating styrofoam from the mixture.
Material List
- One 100 mL Beaker
- One sample of SCP-4742-2
- One 50 mL Beaker
- Two Plastic Dishes
- One Magnet
- One Piece of Filter Paper
- One Funnel
- One Plastic Bag (To put over the magnet)
- One Pair of Tweezers
- One Erlenmeyer Flask
- One Scale
- One Pair of Flask Tongs
- One Funnel-Holding Apparatus
NOTE FROM THE O5 COUNCIL
Denied. The last thing we need is to accidentally release anomalous materials to the public. SCP-4742-2 is most likely not anomalous at all, yes, but we have no way of knowing with absolute certainty. We don't want to cause a crisis. While we appreciate the gesture, we have funding covered. We don't need or want to make money off of the items in our containment.
Per 
