The two kinds of mixture
Mixtures divide in two according to how the components are spread through them, and the two halves have names you will use for the rest of the chapter.
Homogeneous
A mixture that has one and the same composition throughout.
Examples: salt solution, sugar solution
Heterogeneous
A mixture whose composition is not the same throughout.
Examples: clay water, blue-powder water, cement mortar, fruit salad
What follows from being homogeneous
If the composition really is the same everywhere, then the physical properties that depend on composition must be the same everywhere too:
- The colour is the same at every point
- How see-through it is, is the same at every point
- The density is the same at every point
Another name for the same thing
A homogeneous mixture is also called a solution. The two words mean the same thing, and from here on this chapter uses whichever reads better.
You have met this before
Grade 10 sorted matter into pure substances and mixtures and named these two kinds in passing. What that page could not do, and this one can, is point at the experiment that tells them apart — the two drops evaporated on a metal plate.