Astudent has the following equipment - copper wire, nail made of iron, a battery, paperclips.
how can he make an electromagnet and use it to separate a mixture of small pieces of copper and iron?

Taking the copper wire, he has to wind it around the nail made of iron. After which, he then connect both ends of the copper wire to the battery, so an electric charge travels through the wire. This is the basic electromagnet. Since a current is now flowing through the wire, a magnetic field is produced. Placing the electromagnet near the mixture of copper and iron, the magnet should attract the pieces of iron, as iron is more magnetic compared to copper. This is done over a period of time, so that only the copper pieces are left in the mixture.