3. Mixtures and solutions
A mixture is two or more substances that are mixed together but not chemically joined.
A solution is a special type of mixture that is made when a solid dissolves and mixes with a liquid.
For example, a cup of instant coffee is a solution.
The solid that dissolves (e.g. coffee granules) is called the solute.
The liquid that does the dissolving (e.g. hot water) is called the solvent.
How many other examples of solutions can you think of?

4. Solubility experiment

5. What is solubility?
Calcium carbonate is not soluble in water because the calcium carbonate and water particles are not able to mix.
Copper sulfate is soluble in water because the copper sulfate and water particles are able to mix.
water
water
copper sulfate
calcium carbonate

7. Salty water
Where does the salt around the Dead Sea come from?

8. Separating mixtures
Sea water is a salty mixture that contains water, salt, sand and other substances.
The Dead Sea is a salty lake that contains some of the saltiest water in the world!
The Dead Sea is almost six times more salty than the ocean, so nothing is able to live in it and that’s why it is called “dead”.
Photo credit: © 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation
The substances in a mixture, such as salty water, are not chemically joined which means they can be separated.
How is salt separated from salty water?

9. How are solids separated out of mixtures?
Separating an insoluble solid and a liquid:
If a solid is insoluble (e.g. sand in water) then it is easy to separate it by filtering the mixture.
The insoluble solid cannot pass through the filter paper but the water can.
Separating a soluble solid and a liquid:
To separate a soluble solid from a liquid (e.g. salt and water), evaporation can be used.
The solution is heated so that the water evaporates and leaves the dissolved solid behind.

10. Filtering

11. Evaporation

12. Separating salt from sea water
The main salt dissolved in sea water is ‘common salt’.
In hot areas, how can the Sun be used to separate the salt from sea water?
The heat of the Sun evaporates the water, the salt is left behind and collected in salt beds.
Salt can also be obtained from ‘rock salt’ found in layers under the ground.
Photo credit: © 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation
How are dissolving, filtering and evaporating used to separate the salt from rock salt?

13. Separating solvents
Evaporation can be use to separate and collect the solute in a solution. How can the solvent be collected?
The technique use to obtain a solvent from its solution is
called distillation.
Distillation has three steps:
evaporating
condensing
collecting.
The solution is heated so that the solvent (a liquid) evaporates and is turned into a gas. The solute is left behind.
The gas cools in the condenser and turns back into a liquid. This liquid is collected and is pure solvent.

14. Distillation

15. Which separation technique?

17. What is chromatography?
Chromatography is used to separate mixtures of coloured or non-coloured substances that are soluble in the same solvent.
A spot of the mixture is placed on some filter paper.
In method A, the solvent is soaked up the paper.
In method B, the solvent or is slowly dripped onto the paper.
The substances in the mixture get separated because the more soluble substance spreads along the paper faster.

18. Chromatography experiment

19. Identifying dyes in a mixture
Chromatography can be used to find out if a dye is made up of a single coloured substance or a mixture.
Dots of known single dyes are placed alongside the dot for the unknown mixture. After the solvent washes through the paper, the pattern of the dyes in the mixture is compared with the single dyes.
The mixture consists of dyes 3 and 5.
Which dyes does the mixture consist of?

20. Which dyes?

22. Conservation of mass experiment

23. Conservation of mass
If 10 g of salt is added to 50 g of water, what is the mass of the solution? + 
50 g
10 g
60 g ?
How much salt will be recovered if the mixture is separated by evaporation?

24. Conservation of mass – extension
If 10 g of salt is added to 50 g of sea water, what is the mass of the solution? + 
50 g
10 g
60 g ?
How much salt will be recovered if the mixture is separated by evaporation?

25. Does a solid keep dissolving?

26. How does temperature affect solubility?
Does sugar dissolve in cold tea?
The sugar does dissolve but not as much as in a cup of hot tea.
The sugar is more soluble at higher temperatures.
The amount of a solute that can dissolve at a given temperature is called its solubility.
Photo credit: © 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation
How does temperature affect the solubility of a substance?
The solubility of a substance usually increases as the temperature increases.

28. Glossary
dissolving – The mixing of a solid with a liquid to make a solution.
mixture – Two or more substances that are mixed together but are not chemically joined.
saturated – A solution containing the maximum amount of solute that it can hold.
soluble – A substance that can dissolve in a solvent.
solubility – A measure of how much solute can dissolve in a solvent at a given temperature.
solute – Solid that dissolves in a solvent to make a solution.
solution – Mixture made when a solute dissolves in a solvent.
solvent – Liquid in which a solid dissolves to make a solution.

29. Anagrams

30. Multiple-choice quiz