Extraction: Three Small Shakes Beat One Big One

Shake a solution with a solvent that does not mix with it, and the dissolved substance divides between the two layers in a fixed ratio. Run off the layer you want and the separation is done. It is the fastest purification in the laboratory, it needs one piece of glassware, and there are two things about it worth knowing in advance: **splitting the solvent into several portions extracts more than using it all at once**, and **an acid or a base can have its partition coefficient changed by orders of magnitude with a few drops of reagent**. It is hazard-gated because separating funnels build pressure, and because the solvents that do this job well are flammable and harmful to breathe.