Difference Between Mixture and Solution

Mixture vs Solution
 

The single elements are hardly stable under natural conditions. They form various combinations among them or with other elements in order to exist. Not only elements, molecules and compounds also tend to mix with a large number of other species in nature.

What is a Mixture?

A mixture contains two or more substances, which are not chemically combined. They only have physical interactions. Since they do not have any chemical interactions, in a mixture, the chemical properties of the individual substances retain without change. However, the physical properties like melting point, boiling point can be different in a mixture compared to its individual substances. So the components of a mixture can be separated using these physical properties. For example, hexane can be separated from a mixture of hexane and water, because hexane boils and evaporates before water does. The amount of substances in a mixture can vary. And these amounts don’t have a fixed ratio. Therefore, even two mixtures containing similar types of substances can be different, due to the difference in their mixing ratios. Solutions, alloys, colloids, suspensions are the types of mixtures. Mixtures can be mainly divided into two as homogenous mixtures and heterogeneous mixtures. A homogenous mixture is uniform; therefore, the individual components cannot be separately identified. But a heterogeneous mixture has two or more phases and the components can be individually identified.

What is a Solution?

A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. It is called a homogenous mixture, because the composition is uniform throughout the solution. The components of a solution are mainly of two types, solutes and the solvent. Solvent dissolves the solutes and form a uniform solution. So, normally solvent amount is higher than the solute quantity. All the particles in a solution have the size of a molecule or an ion, so they cannot be observed by the naked eye. The solutions can have a color if the solvent or the solutes can absorb visible light. However, solutions are typically transparent. Solvents can be in a liquid, gaseous or solid state. Most common solvents are liquids. Among liquids, water is considered as a universal solvent, because it can dissolve many substances than any other solvent. Gas, solid or any other liquid solute can be dissolved in liquid solvents. In gas solvents, only gas solutes can be dissolved. There is a limit to the amount of solutes that can be added to a certain amount of solvent. The solution is said to be saturated if the maximum amount of the solute is added to the solvent. If there is a very low amount of solutes, the solution is diluted, and if there is a high amount of solutes in the solution, it is a concentrated solution. By measuring the concentration of a solution, we can get an idea about the amount of solutes in the solution.