Question

Identify each of the highlighted materials as an element, a compound, or a mixture, and explain your reasoning.

A) Butane: Compound, because it contains multiple elements bonded together.
B) Benzene: Compound, because it contains multiple elements bonded together.
C) Kerosene: Mixture, because it is a combination of several compounds.
D) Gasoline: Mixture, because it is a combination of several compounds.

Answer 1

White wine is a homogeneous mixture, mercury is an element, ranch-style salad dressing is a heterogeneous mixture, and table sugar (sucrose) is a compound.

Step-by-step explanation:

To identify each substance, we need to understand the definitions of elements, compounds, heterogeneous mixtures, and homogeneous mixtures. An element is a pure substance made up of only one type of atom. A compound is a substance composed of two or more different elements chemically bonded together.

A heterogeneous mixture is a mixture in which the components are not uniformly distributed, while a homogeneous mixture is a mixture in which the components are uniformly distributed.

a. White wine: Homogeneous mixture because it contains a mixture of water, alcohol, sugars, acids, and flavors that are uniformly distributed.

b. Mercury: Element because it is a pure substance composed of only mercury atoms.

c. Ranch-style salad dressing: Heterogeneous mixture because it contains different components (oils, vinegar, herbs) that are not uniformly distributed.

d. Table sugar (sucrose): Compound because it is a pure substance composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms chemically bonded together.