A mixture of sodium chloride (salt) and ammonium chloride can be separated by _________.

A mixture of sodium chloride and ammonium chloride is separated using sublimation. Sublimation is the physical process where a substance transitions directly from a solid to a gaseous state without passing through the liquid phase. In this specific mixture, ammonium chloride is a volatile solid that sublimes upon heating at approximately 337.6°C to 338°C. Conversely, sodium chloride (common salt) is a non-volatile salt that remains in the evaporating dish as it does not sublime under normal experimental conditions. During the procedure, the ammonium chloride vapors are typically collected on a cool surface, such as an inverted funnel, where they solidify back into pure ammonium chloride, effectively separating it from the sodium chloride residue. Other techniques like filtration or distillation are unsuitable because both components are solids with significantly different volatility profiles.