Mixtures

A mixture is made when you put two or more things together. In a mixture, each thing stays the same. You can often pick the parts back out. Salad, trail mix, and sand with pebbles are all mixtures.

Types of Mixtures

There are two main types of mixtures. One type looks the same all the way through, like sugar water. The other type has parts you can easily see, like cereal with raisins. Scientists call the first kind a uniform mixture. The second kind is called a nonuniform mixture.

Separating Mixtures

You can pull a mixture apart using different tricks. A magnet can take iron bits out of sand. A strainer can separate pasta from water. Letting water dry up can leave salt behind. Each piece of the mixture stays the same as before.

Fun Facts

• Air is a mixture of many gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen.
• A smoothie is a tasty mixture of fruit and juice.
• Even dirt is a mixture of tiny rocks, water, and old plants.

Did You Know?

Unlike a mixture, when two things chemically combine to make something brand new, it is called a compound.