What’s Your Idea?

Biology – Mixtures and Solutions

 The students are discussing what a mixture is.

A mixture has to contain at least

five different things.

It’s when you mix different solid

things together, like fruit in cereal or
shells and sand.

But when you make a cake, you mix

that up and it’s not solid until you
cook it.

ea?
Well, I think it’s anything that has
r id
been mixed, like with a spoon. o u

?
y
at’s
h
W
 Possible Points of Discussion
A mixture has to contain at least five different things.
A mixture contains two or more different substances that are not chemically joined
and can, therefore, be separated.

It’s when you mix different solid things

together, like fruit in cereal or shells and
sand.
These are two good examples of mixtures.
However, not all mixtures contain just
solid objects or substances.
 Possible Points of Discussion
But when you make a cake, you mix that up and it’s not solid until
you cook it.
Cake batter is another example of a mixture. The different parts are combined in a
suspension but not joined at an atomic level. However, the changes to the
substances mixed into cake batter are irreversible once it is heated (in the oven); at
this point, there has been a chemical change which results in new substances being
made. These cannot be separated again by physical methods. The cooked cake is
now a compound, not a mixture.

Well, I think it’s anything that has been mixed, like with a spoon.
A mixture contains two or more different substances which are not chemically
joined. The substances are often randomly dispersed throughout but not always,
depending on those substances.
 The students are discussing what happens
to sugar when it is added to tea.

It just disappears completely.

It can’t have disappeared because you

can still taste it. It just melts in the
hot tea.

It doesn’t all melt, though. Sometimes,

some of it stays in the bottom of the cup
after you have drank the tea.

The sugar is broken into tiny pieces ea?

when you stir it with the spoon. Then r id
o u

?
you just can’t see it anymore. y
at’s
h
W
 Possible Points of Discussion
It just disappears completely.
The sugar does not ‘disappear’. It
dissolves and is mixed amongst the
water molecules to form a solution.

It can’t have disappeared because you

can still taste it. It just melts in the hot
tea.
Melting and dissolving are often
confused as both are facilitated by the
addition of heat. Melting is the change
of a solid into a liquid. Dissolving is the
behaviour of a solid substance within a
solvent (usually water) to form a new
solution.
 Possible Points of Discussion
It doesn’t all melt, though. Sometimes, some of it stays in the bottom of the cup
after you have drank the tea.
When a large amount of solute is added to the solvent, not all of it may dissolve.
This is because the solvent has become saturated (it’s dissolved as much solute as
possible already).

The sugar is broken into tiny pieces when you stir it with the spoon. Then you just
can’t see it anymore.
Stirring helps to make a substance dissolve faster. You cannot see the dissolved
substance (solute) once it forms a solution. The resulting solution will be clear,
although it may be coloured.
When milk is added to tea, the heat from the boiled water results in a chemical
change to the milk, and a new compound is formed. This is why it is no longer a
clear solution.
 The students are discussing their ideas about
how to get pure water from sea water.

You need to pour it through lots of

gravel so the salt gets trapped.

But the salt is dissolved in the water. I

don’t think that will work.

If you heat up the water, it will

evaporate and leave the salt behind.

ea?
But we don’t want the salt, so how do we
r id
get just the water instead? o u

?
y
at’s
h
W
 Possible Points of Discussion
You need to pour it through lots of gravel so the salt gets trapped.
This idea uses knowledge of filtration, which provides a membrane, or filter, with
specifically sized holes, separating insoluble particles by size. However, salt is
soluble and would be dissolved in the water.

But the salt is dissolved in the water. I

don’t think that will work.
As stated, salt is a soluble substance
and as it is dissolved in the water, it
will pass through the hole with the
water.
 Possible Points of Discussion
If you heat up the water, it will evaporate and leave the salt behind.
Heating the water causes it to turn into steam and evaporate. Salt cannot be turned
into a gas by heating, and so it is left behind as a solid. You will be left with the
salt but no water!

But we don’t want the salt, so how do

we get just the water instead?
To recover the water, you would need to
use a distillation technique. This would
recover the steam by cooling it on a
surface and allowing it to turn back into
a liquid whilst directing it to a separate
container.