Principle
Mixtures can be "decomposed" by various separation processes into their component parts. One of these separation process is the so-called "extraction", wherein with the aid of an extraction agent only one component is dissolved from a solid or liquid mixture. In this experiment students "wash out" dyes are by extraction from leaves. The leaves with mixed with sand and alcohol in a mortar into a homogeneous mass and then the mixture is filtered through a filter in an Erlenmeyer flask.
