Mixture - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In chemistry, a mixture is a substance that is made up of two or more simpler substances. These substances can be chemical elements or compounds. A mixture can be made of liquids, solids, or gases.^[1]

A mixture is not the same as a compound which is made of two or more atoms connected together.^[2] For instance, a mixture of the gases hydrogen and nitrogen contains hydrogen and nitrogen, not the compound ammonia which is made of hydrogen and nitrogen atoms.

A mixture where the different parts can be distinguished easily is called heterogenous, one where this is not the case is called homogeneous. A third form is called colloid.^[3]

If one substance in a mixture dissolves in the other, it is called a solution. For example, if sugar is put in water it forms a mixture, then dissolves to make a solution. If it does not dissolve, it would be called a suspension.

Solids can be mixtures also. Alloys are mixtures. Many kinds of soil and rock are mixtures of different minerals. Thus, a mixture is made of two or more elements and/or compounds which are not chemically combined.^[4]

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  Red wine in a glass, a homogeneous mixture.
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  Different kinds of peppercorn, a heterogenoeus mixture
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  Flour suspended in water - a colloid
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  Granite is a mixture of minerals