Mixture of common salt, sand and iron filings can be separated by using magnet first. A horse-shoe magnet is moved on the surface of the mixture. The iron filings are attracted by the magnet, they cling to the poles of the magnet and get separated. This process is repeated a number of times till complete separation of iron filings occur leaving behind mixture of common salt and sand. The mixture of common salt and sand is then dissolved in water and then filtered with the help of filter paper. Sand remains as residue on the filter paper while common salt solution is obtained as filtrate .The filtrate is then evaporated to get crystals of common salt.