Question

A chemist is studying an unknown substance. He can break it into its elemental components only by using chemical means. Based on this observation, how should the unknown substance be classified?

A) impure substance
B) solution
C) mixture
D) pure substance

Answer 1

D) Pure Substance

Step-by-step explanation:

The unknown substance can be classified as a pure substance. This is because every other option given (impure substance, solution, mixture) are all examples of substances where the particles are not chemically bonded together.

If a substance is classified as a pure substance, that means that every atom in its chemical formula is chemically bonded to each other.

Answer 2

The correct option is D.

In chemistry, a pure substance refers to a matter that possesses definite and constant composition with unique chemical properties. Another word for a pure substance is chemical substance. A pure substance typically contains only one type of atom or only one type of molecule. Examples of pure substances are water, sodium chloride, gold, silver, etc. In the question given above, we are told that the unknown element can only be broken down by chemical mean, this shows that the unknown compound is a chemical compound.