(SME) Mixtures Lesson

Mixtures

Mixtures are combinations of substances that are physically combined together. Unlike compounds, many mixtures can be separated by performing a physical change. For example, if you have a mixture of iron and sugar, one could use a magnet to separate the iron from the sugar. Since metals like iron are attracted to a magnet and sugar is not, you can use that physical property to separate one substance from another. You could also separate the two in another way; use water to dissolve the sugar and then use a filter to separate the two substances. Mixtures can be used in many ways due to their properties. Sometimes having the ability to easily blend and separate substances is an advantage over having a compound that is chemically combined. In this lesson we will look at the properties of two types of mixtures, and examine how these mixtures are used in sports.

Heterogenous Mixtures

Heterogeneous mixtures are types of mixtures where the parts of the mixture are not evenly distributed. Heterogeneous mixtures are like the salsa in the image above, where the materials are not uniform within the system. If you were to take a sample from one part of a salsa bowl and another sample from a different area, the two would not be alike. These types of mixtures are usually easy to separate because they are not mixed very well. We see heterogeneous mixtures in everyday life, such as in the food that we eat, medicines we take and many other areas. We also see a lot of heterogeneous mixtures in sports. If we look at a typical sports team, we have players of different sizes, body shape, jersey color and speed. If we look at a football play, for instance, both teams start out fairly uniform on both sides of the ball, but as the play progresses the players become a mixture where more players are around the ball than on other parts of the field. If we were to take a snapshot of the field after the play had started, we would not be able to take a sample from two spots on the field that were the same. We would see an unequal distribution of the size of player, body shape, jersey color and speed. We also see heterogeneous mixtures on the sidelines, players do not line up by size they usually are randomly distributed as the game is being played. As you can see, heterogeneous mixtures are all around us even in the sports that we love to watch or play. We see them every day and they play important roles in our lives as well as the games that we love so much.  

Homogenous Mixtures

Homogeneous mixtures are types of mixtures where the components are evenly distributed. Homogeneous mixtures are hard to separate due to their uniform mixing where two samples will be the same when taken from two different areas. A good example of a homogenous mixture would be cake batter; once it is mixed it is almost impossible to separate out the eggs from the flour, sugar and butter. We see homogeneous mixtures in sporting events as well as in the kitchen. The sports drinks that keep athletes hydrated are homogenous mixtures of water, sugar, electrolytes and flavorings. When we dissolve solids, such as sugars into a liquid, we create a special type of homogenous mixture called a solution. It is composed of a solvent that is usually a liquid that does the dissolving and a solute that is being dissolved. Water is considered the universal solvent because it can dissolve so many different things, but there are many solvents that can dissolve substances. The paint, for instance, that is used to paint the lines of the field contains organic solvents that create a solution when applied to the field, can be allowed to dry, so that will last the duration of the game. Other homogenous solutions that are used during sporting events include the saline solutions in the IV bags that are used to treat dehydration, the medicines used to treat injuries and the fertilizer that is sprayed onto the field to maintain the green color of the grass. As you can see, there are many applications of homogenous mixtures that are important to the successful production of a sporting event.

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