In chemistry and chemical engineering, a separation process, or a separation technique, or simply a separation, is a method to achieve any mass transfer phenomenon that converts a mixture of substances into two or more distinct product mixtures (which may be referred to as fractions), at least one of which is enriched in one or more of the mixture's constituents. In some cases, a separation may fully divide the mixture into its pure constituents. Separations are carried out based on differences in chemical properties or physical properties such as size, shape, mass, density, or chemical affinity, between the constituents of a mixture. They are often classified according to the particular differences they use to achieve separation. Usually there is only physical movement and no substantial chemical modification. If no single difference can be used to accomplish a desired separation, multiple operations will often be performed in combination to achieve the desired end.