Definitions - Pure Substances and Mixtures

These are the current definitions that you should be studying.  Updated Feb 9th.

 

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Matter Anything that takes up space, has mass, and is made up of particles.
Pure Substance A material that is composed of only one type of particle; examples of a pure substance include gold, oxygen and water.
Mixture A material made up of at least two different pure substances.
Mechanical Mixture A mixture in which each material maintains its own properties.
Solution A mixture in which the distinct properties of the different substances are combined into one set of properties.
Homogeneous A material having only one set of properties.
Heterogeneous A mixture, made up of parts that retain their own properties, even if these properties are not visible to the unaided eye.
Solute A substance that can be dissolved in a solvent; for example, salt is a solute that dissolves in water.
Solvent A substance into which a solute may be dissolved; for example, water is a solvent that dissolves sugar.
Filtration The act of pouring a mixture through a mesh, in attempts to separate the components of the mixture.
Filtrate The part of a mixture that passes through a filter.
Residue The part of a mixture that remains on a filter.
Distillation A process for separating the parts of a liquid solution.  The solvent is heated and the gas is collected and cooled.
Soluble When a solute is able to dissolve in a solvent.
Insoluble When a substance is not able to dissolve in another, specific, substance.
Dissolve The act of a solute completely combining with a  solvent to become a solution.
Dilute To weaken the strength of a solution by increasing the amount of solvent.
Dilute Solution A solution that contains little solute.
Strengthen To increase the strength of a solution by increasing the amount of solute.
Concentrated Solution A solution that contains a lot of solute.
Saturated A solution in which no more solute can be dissolved at a given temperature.
Supersaturated A solution in which heat has been used to dissolve more solute than a solution could normally dissolve.