Mixtures 01

Test your knowledge of mixtures in this KS3 Science quiz. Alloys are mixtures of metals. Alloying one metal with other metal(s) or non-metal(s) often enhances (improves) its properties. For example, steel is more malleable than iron, its primary element. There are many types of steel, one of the most common is mild steel which is an alloy of iron with a small quantity of the non-metal carbon. Another important group of alloys is the stainless steels, which resist corrosion (don't go rusty). These are mainly iron that has been alloyed with the metals chromium and nickel, together with small quantities of other metals and non metals. Many foods are emulsions. An emulsion is a mixture of an oil and water. Adding an emulsifier can make these very stable.

A property of many mixtures is that they can be easily separated into their component parts. One example that is usually done in school is to separate sulfur and iron filings. This is very simple as you can just use a magnet. A mixture of a solid dissolved into a liquid e.g. brine (salty water) can be separated using evaporation whilst mixtures of liquids with different boiling points can be separated using distillation.