The word “mixture” refers to combining at least two substances without a chemical reaction. Each substance maintains its chemical properties in a mixture, meaning there are no chemical changes at all.
Two types of mixtures can be identified:
- Heterogeneous mixtures.
They are those in which the substances that make up the mixture can be distinguished with the naked eye. They are not uniform as the substances do not combine chemically. For instance: oil and water, or a lettuce salad and tomato. - Homogeneous mixtures.
They are characterized by being uniform, meaning that humans cannot easily identify that they are at least two combined substances since there is no discontinuity between them. For instance: wine, jelly, beer, and coffee with milk.
Examples of homogeneous mixtures
- Came. This substance, which contains water, sugar, yeast, and fruits that mix evenly, is an example of a homogeneous mixture.
- Cake preparation. This mixture can be made up of flour, milk, butter, eggs, and sugar, but if we observe it with the naked eye, we will not be able to identify all these ingredients, but rather we see the preparation as a whole.
- Alpaca. This solid mixture comprises zinc, copper, and nickel, all substances the naked eye cannot detect.
- Coffee with milk. When we prepare coffee with milk, a homogeneous liquid mixture is formed in which the coffee, water, and milk cannot be identified with the naked eye.
- White gold. This solid mixture comprises at least two metallic substances manufactured from nickel, silver, and gold.
- Flour with sugar. This mixture that we use for cooking is also homogeneous. Both ingredients cannot be detected with the naked eye.
- Air. This mixture comprises various gaseous substances, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, and ozone, among other gases.
- Water with salt. Salt is diluted in water, so the two substances cannot be detected separately.
- Mayonnaise. This dressing contains substances like egg, lemon, and oil, which combine evenly.
- Pizza mass. This dough, which contains flour, yeast, water, and salt, among other ingredients, is homogeneous.
- Bronze. This alloy is a homogeneous substance composed of tin and copper.
- Milk. We see this mixture uniformly composed of substances such as water and fat.
- Artificial juice. Powdered juices made with water are one more example of homogeneous mixtures.
- Water and alcohol Try as we might, this liquid mixture looks like a whole at first glance as the water and alcohol mix evenly.
- Steel. This solid mixture is an alloy of carbon and iron mixed continuously.
- Jelly. This preparation, which contains powdered gelatin and water, is homogeneous since both substances are mixed evenly.
- Detergent and water. When detergent is dissolved in water, we face a homogeneous mixture since only one base is identified.
- Chlorine and water. When these substances are placed in the same container, it is impossible to detect them with the naked eye since they form a single phase.
- Invar. This alloy is also considered homogeneous since it comprises nickel and iron.
- Alnico. It is an alloy composed of cobalt, aluminum, and nickel.
Other types of mixes: