Final answer:
Alloys are considered mixtures because they are composed of two or more elements mixed together while retaining their individual properties, similar to components in a salt solution.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Alloys and their Classification as Mixtures
Alloys indeed exhibit metallic bonds between their constituent metal atoms. However, they are classified as mixtures because they are composed of two or more elements that are mixed together while maintaining their own chemical properties.
Alloys can be either substitutional or interstitial. Substitutional alloys have different metal atoms replacing each other in the crystal structure, while interstitial alloys see smaller atoms, like carbon, inserting themselves into the gaps between larger metal atoms.
As a comparison, a salt solution is also a mixture because it consists of two or more substances (salt and water) that retain their individual properties even though they are combined.
Similarly, an alloy is a solid solution where a metal forms the solvent and other metals or nonmetals are solutes dissolved within it, as in the case of steel which primarily consists of iron with some carbon and other elements. In both alloys and salt solutions, the components are homogeneously mixed at the molecular level.
Metallic solids are held together by metallic bonding, where metal atoms share a "sea" of delocalized electrons.
In summary, despite the presence of metallic bonds, alloys are essentially mixtures due to the nature of their composition.
Their properties as homogeneously mixed elements at least one of which is metal, and the way different atomic sizes can fit within their crystal structures, is similar to how different substances dissolve in salt solutions.