2.1.1

Differences Between Elements, Compounds & Mixtures

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Differences Between Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Elements are pure substances. Compounds are chemically bonded atoms. Mixtures are physically combined substances which are easily separable.

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What are elements?

  • Elements are pure substances made of only one type of atom.
    • The element gold contains only gold atoms.
  • Elements cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemicals.
  • Dmitri Mendeleev arranged elements in a table in 1869, which is now called the Periodic Table.
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What are compounds?

  • Compounds are substances made of two or more different atoms chemically bonded.
    • Water (H2O) is a compound made from hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
  • Compounds have fixed proportions of elements.
  • Compounds can be broken down into elements by chemical reactions.
  • Compounds have properties different from elements that make them.
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What are mixtures?

  • Mixtures contain two or more substances that are not chemically joined.
    • Air is a mixture of gases like oxygen and nitrogen.
  • Mixtures can have any amount of each substance.
  • Mixtures can be separated by physical methods.
    • For example, filtration or evaporation.
  • Mixtures keep the properties of their components.
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Differences summary

  • Elements have one type of atom; compounds have chemically joined atoms; mixtures have physically combined substances.
  • Elements and compounds are pure; mixtures are not.
  • Elements cannot be separated; compounds separate by chemical means; mixtures separate by physical means.
  • Compounds have fixed ratios; mixtures have variable amounts.

Jump to other topics

1States of Matter

2Atoms, Elements & Compounds

3Stoichometry

4Electrochemistry

5Chemical Energetics

6Chemical Reactions

7Acids, Bases & Salts

8The Periodic Table

9Metals

10Chemistry of the Environment

11Organic Chemistry

11.1Formulae, Functional Groups & Terminology

11.2Naming Organic Compounds

11.3Fuels

11.4Alkanes

11.5Alkenes

11.6Alcohols

11.7Carboxylic Acids

11.8Polymers

12Experimental Techniques & Chemical Analysis

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