Are air and water mixtures or compounds?

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Ellen Hederick
February 5, 2019
Mixtures Blog


Are air and water mixtures or compounds? How do you know?
The definition of a mixture is a substance made by mixing other substances together. So, is air a mixture, compound, or an element? This is a tough question to answer because there's two sides of the story, some people believe that mair is a mixture but others seem to believe that air is not a mixture. I believe that air is a mixture, but I can also see it from others eyes who say that it is not. Here are some reasons to back up air being a mixture. Air is a homogeneous mixture, not a compound, the components of a mixture can be separated once they have been combined; a compound on the other hand is a brand new substance formed by a reaction between components. A couple reasons air is considered to be a mixture are that ar does not have a fixed formula as other elements and compounds do. “Air has a variable composition because air at different places contains different amount of gases”. Also  mixtures don’t have a perfect fixed boiling point either so this holds in good case of liquid air, air also has a variable composition. Also each component of air can be separated by a fairly simple physical process, and each component in air retains its properties. “Air is a mixture of various gases, water vapor, dust and microbes. All the constituents of air are mixed in any proportion and are not chemically bonded. These gases and water vapor are not uniformly distributed everywhere and this is why air is considered a mixture”. Overall air is not a mixture because of scientists freezing it and finding it different types of liquids.

While air (to me) is not considered a mixture water could be different. Water is a solution or a substance, in more depth, water is composed of two different solutions/elements water and oxygen, because of this water is known to be a compound not a element or a mixture of some kind. While just basic water or H2o is not considered to be a mixture, or an element, salt water is different. Salt water is considered to be a homogenous mixture or solution. We know this because salt water acts as if it were a single substance even though it contains two different substances being salt, and water. “A compound forms whenever two or more atoms form chemical bonds with each other. The chemical formula for water is H2O, which means each molecule of water consists of one oxygen atom chemically bonded to two hydrogen atoms”. Therefore this quote shows and proves that water is a compound. Even Though water is a compound it is also a molecule. A molecule is any chemical species formed by two or more atoms chemically bonded to each other. Overall the term molecule and the term compound are the same thing or they have the overall same meaning, and these two words can be used interchangeably talking about certain things. Air is not a mixture but a compound and a molecule.

In conclusion water and air are not necessarily elements or mixtures but they are compounds and molecules. But this was a personal opinion based on the research I read and what was most commonly said, so other people might think differently. These two compounds; water and air and whether they are compounds or mixtures may not be specifically used in real life, but when people ask certain questions this research may help them find the answer to the question that they are looking for! In conjunction with that, a frequently asked question is, are water and air elements, and this scientific research could help someone understand whether they are or not and why. People also ask and wonder if they are mixtures or not and this topic could also help them answer that question too. Also taking what we know about water and air and whether they are mixtures or compounds could help scientists figure out if other elements that they are newly studying are compounds or mixtures etc. Scientists could apply the scientific research they have conducted on these two compounds and use it to find out other further questions they may have about new or existing elements, mixtures or compounds.





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