ATOMS,

ELEMENTS,
COMPOUNDS,
AND MIXTURES

CONFUSING
THERE ARE A LOT OF TERMS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR
THIS SECTION. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH YOUR NEED
TO KNOW ALL OF THESE WORDS AND THE
CORRESPONDING VOCABULARY.

PHYSICAL VS CHEMICAL CHANGE

A PHYSICAL CHANGE IN MATTER IS ONE THAT DOES NOT
RESULT IN NEW MATTER. FOR EXAMPLE, THE WHOLE
SHELL BEING GROUND TO PRODUCE CRUSHED SHELL. IT
IS STILL SHELL, JUST THE EXTRINSIC PROPERTIES HAVE
CHANGED. CHANGES IN STATES OF MATTER ARE ALSO
PHYSICAL CHANGES.

Physical changes are

changes affecting the
form of a chemical
substance but not its
composition .

PHYSICAL VS CHEMICAL CHANGE

A CHEMICAL CHANGE IS DIFFERENT AND DOES RESULT IN
NEW MATTER. TAKE FOR EXAMPLE THE MOLECULE OF
WATER. WATER IS COMPOSED OF HYDROGEN AND
OXYGEN AND THEY ARE CHEMICALLY COMBINED. TO
MAKE WATER, WE FIRST ADD HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN
ATOMS. BEFORE THEY COMBINE, THEY FORM A MIXTURE,
A PHYSICAL CHANGE AS EACH SUBSTANCE KEEPS ITS
ORIGINAL PROPERTIES. UPON COMBINING, A CHEMICAL
CHANGE OCCURS, WATER IS FORMED. WATER HAS
TOTALLY DIFFERENT PROPERTIES.

CHEMICAL CHANGE

A physical change is an extrinsic change. It does not result

in new matter forming. Splitting logs is a physical change
as the logs are cut into smaller pieces of THE SAME
WOOD. Burning results in new matter, ashes, with all
new properties.

ATOMS
ATOMS ARE THE SMALLEST
WHOLE PART OF AN ELEMENT
THAT KEEP THE PROPERTY OF
THAT ELEMENT.
GROUPS OF THE SAME KIND OF
ATOMS ARE CALLED
ELEMENTS.

A PURE SUBSTANCE IS A
SUBSTANCE THAT CONTAINS
100% OF THAT SUBSTANCE.
SINCE AN ELEMENT IS COMPOSED OF A GROUP OF THE
SAME ATOMS, THEN IT MUST BE A PURE SUBSTANCE.
ELEMENTS ARE ALSO HOMOGENEOUS. HOMOGENEOUS
SUBSTANCES ARE EVENLY MIXED THROUGHOUT.

PURE VS. IMPURE

DO NOT CONFUSE PURE OR IMPURE WITH THE CONCEPT
OF GOOD OR BAD. FOR EXAMPLE, POISON CAN BE
PURE, LIKE PURE CYANIDE, BUT IT IS BAD FOR YOU. IT IS
PURE IF YOU HAVE 100% CYANIDE.

IMPURE MEANS YOU HAVE A MIXTURE. ALL OF YOUR FOOD

IS IMPURE, YET YOU NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE.

MIXTURES

MIXTURES ARE IMPURE

SUBSTANCES THAT ARE
PHYSICALLY COMBINED.
THEY HAVE THE
FOLLOWING PROPERTIES:
1. THEY ARE EASILY
SEPARATED.
2. THEY KEEP THEIR
PROPERTIES.

Mixtures are IMPURE SUBSTANCES that are

PHYSICALLY COMBINED. They can be easily
separated. A characteristic of mixtures is that each part
of the mixture keeps its properties. (Notice here that
they all keep their colors.)

Here is a good example of a heterogeneous, impure,

substance. You will be able to taste all parts of this
candy bar as mixtures keep their properties.

A crunch bar is a good example of a HOMOGENEOUS

mixture. Even though you can see the rice krispies, they are
evenly spread out in the candy bar. That is what makes it
homogeneous. You can taste both the chocolate and the
krispies, so it is a mixture. You can also melt the chocolate and
easily separate the two.

CEREAL IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A

MIXTURE. YOU CAN EASILY POUR OFF
THE MILK. THE CEREAL AND MILK ARE
NOW SEPARATED. WHEN YOU EAT A
BOWL OF CEREAL, YOU CAN TASTE THE
INDIVIDUAL PARTS OF THE CEREAL. THE
MILK TASTES LIKE MILK AND THE CEREAL
HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE TASTE.

BECAUSE THE CEREAL IS A MIXTURE IT IS

IMPURE. IMPURE DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A

Mixtures are IMPURE substances that keep their properties.

Mixtures can be either evenly mixed (homogeneous) or
Unevenly mixed (heterogeneous).

The photo to the right

shows a heterogeneous
solution. It is
unevenly mixed.

In this photo you see an almost

homogenous solution and a
heterogeneous solution.
Homogeneous are evenly mixed.

Pure Substances are substances that have 100% of that

substance. Both elements and compounds are
examples of pure substances

SUBSTANCES THAT ARE MIXED EVENLY,

LIKE CHOCOLATE, ARE HOMOGENEOUS.
MILK IS REFERRED TO AS BEING
HOMOGENIZED SINCE IT IS EVENLY
MIXED. IN MOSES TIME WHEN YOUR
PARENTS HAD MILK, THIS WAS NOT THE
CASE, THE CREAM ALWAYS FLOATED TO
THE TOP OF THE MILK. SINCE THEY
SEPARATED IT WAS HETEROGENEOUS.
IF A MIXTURE IS NOT MIXED EVENLY, LIKE
SALAD DRESSINGS, THEN IT IS
REFERRED TO AS BEING

French Dressing,
homogeneous

Italian Dressing, you can see

layers, so heterogeneous.

SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS ARE PROBABLY THE
MOST EVENLY MIXED OF THE
MIXTURES. SOLUTIONS ARE
IMPURE. SOLUTIONS ARE MADE
WHEN A SOLUTE (SUBSTANCE
BEING DISSOLVED) IS ADDED TO A
SOLVENT (SUBSTANCE DOING
THE DISSOLVING). THE
RESULTING MIXTURE IS THE
SOLUTION. SOLUTIONS THAT ARE
EVENLY MIXED ARE
HOMOGENEOUS. SOLUTIONS

A solution has two

parts. The greater
part that DOES
THE DISSOLVING
is the solvent. The
smaller part, which
is dissolved, is the
solute. Together
they make up a
solution.

Here the solute is a solid and the solvent is a

liquid. Together they make a homogeneous
solution. Water is known as the universal
solvent since it dissolves so many substances.

Notice that the substance being dissolved, the SOLUTE,

can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas.

ALLOYS
AN ALLOY IS A METALLIC MIXTURE, A SOLID DISSOLVED IN A
SOLID. IT IS MADE WHEN ONE METAL IS LITERALLY
DISSOLVED INTO ANOTHER METAL. GOLD JEWELRY IS AN
EXAMPLE OF AN ALLOY. PURE GOLD IS TOO SOFT TO USE
SO COPPER IS ADDED TO GIVE STRENGTH.
BRASS IS AN ALLOY MADE BY MIXING COPPER AND ZINC.

ALLOYS
Coins are a good example
of an alloy. In the photo
below you can see that
the coin is a mixture of
copper and another metal.
Since it is an alloy, each
metal keeps its
properties. A property of
copper is that it will turn
green over time.

COMPOUNDS
COMPOUNDS ARE PURE SUBSTANCES
THAT ARE MADE WHEN TWO OR MORE
DIFFERENT ATOMS ARE CHEMICALLY
COMBINED. THIS RESULTS IN NEW
MATTER THAT HAS ALL NEW PROPERTIES.
COMPOUNDS CAN NOT BE SEPARATED
EASILY LIKE MIXTURES CAN. SINCE
COMPOUNDS ARE PURE THEY ARE ALSO
HOMOGENEOUS SUBSTANCES.

Compounds are pure substances even though they have

different atoms. The reason is that the atoms are now
chemically combined.

COMPOUNDS CAN IN TURN BE ADDED TOGETHER

TO MAKE MIXTURES. THESE SUBSTANCES WILL
HAVE ALL OF THE PROPERTIES OF MIXTURES:
THEY CAN BE EASILY SEPARATED.
THEY KEEP THEIR PROPERTIES.

COKE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A MIXTURE OF

COMPOUNDS. THE GAS CO2 LEAVES THE LIQUID
ON ITS OWN. YOU CAN TASTE THE SUGAR AND
THE WATER STILL HAS ITS OWN PROPERTIES.

SOME OF YOUR VOCABULARY

PURE SUBSTANCEELEMENTMIXTURE-

PHYSICALLY COMBINEDATOMCOMPOUND-

SOLUTIONHETEROGENEOUSALLOY-

CHEMICALLY COMBINED-

SOME OF YOUR VOCABULARY

PURE SUBSTANCE-100% OF THAT SUBSTANCE.
ELEMENTS/COMPOUNDS.
ELEMENT-GROUP OF THE SAME ATOM.
MIXTURE-TWO OR MORE SUBSTANCES THAT ARE PHYSICALLY
COMBINED. IMPURE. COMPONENTS KEEP THEIR INDIVIDUAL
PROPERTIES. EASILY SEPARATED.
PHYSICALLY COMBINED-MIXTURE. SUBSTANCES KEEP THEIR
PROPERTIES. IMPURE. NO NEW MATTER RESULTS.
ATOM-SMALLEST WHOLE PART OF AN ELEMENT THAT KEEPS ALL OF
THE PROPERTIES OF THAT ELEMENT.
COMPOUND-TWO OR MORE ATOMS CHEMICALLY COMBINED. NEW
MATTER. PURE.
SOLUTION-A LIQUID MIXTURE. IMPURE. MOST EVENLY MIXED OF THE
MIXTURES.
HETEROGENEOUS-UNEVENLY MIXED. IMPURE, REFERS TO