Mixtures by Sara Jane

Why are mixtures important? Mixtures are vital to everyday life. Mixtures in our food provide diversity in the nutrients we need in order to survive. Many things people come across are mixtures- food, drinks, and even the air. The air is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and greenhouse gases. What would it be like if the world lacked mixtures? How boring would it be if there weren’t any diversity in what we consume and breathe in?

What is a mixture? A mixture is two or more substances combined. For example, jello is a mixture because you are adding jello mix to water. A fruit salad is another good display of a mixture because you are adding a variety of different fruits to the salad. There are different ways to categorize mixtures- suspension mixture, colloidal mixture, and solution. Suspension mixtures have particles large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, and is a heterogenous mixture, meaning the particles are not evenly spread out. Colloidal Mixtures are mixtures that are homogenous, meaning they are evenly spread out throughout the mixture, and are solids or liquids combined with a fluid. Their particles are smaller than that of a suspension mixture, but larger than a solution’s. A solution is a homogenous mixture where the particles are dissolved together. A good way to learn about mixtures is through example. Air is a homogenous mixture, evenly mixed together. Sand and water is a heterogenous mixture, most of the sand sinks to the bottom. Kool-Aid is a good example of a solution, because you add the Kool-Aid packet to water and the packet is dissolved into the water.

Why are mixtures important to understand? Mixtures are used in everyday life for many different purposes. We find mixtures in the food we eat, the drinks we drink, and the air we breath in.