Monday, June 9, 2014

Is sugar solution a mixture?

Generally speaking, yes, a solution of sugar in water can be considered a mixture.


A mixture is defined as two or more distinct substances in physical proximity to each other but not chemically combined or fundamentally altered in such a way that their chemical identity is changed. The substances in a mixture should be capable of being extracted from the mixture in their original form. Obvious examples would be something like marbles in water. More complicated ones involve substances like sugar or salt, which can confuse us because they are soluble in water.


Simply being soluble does not change the fundamental structure of the sugar. Rather than undergoing any chemical reaction, the sugar molecules are simply surrounded by water molecules that help distribute them as evenly as possible in the solution. We know no fundamental change has taken place because we can either supersaturate the solution by adding more sugar or carefully vaporize the water; in both cases, sugar will appear. 

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