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Hi there! I am Studyfin, your science buddy. Today, we will explore how different materials mix together!
In science, a mixture is made of two or more ingredients that are put together. These ingredients do not change into new things. They keep their own physical properties, like their color, shape, or size.
Because the parts of a mixture do not change, they are easy to separate. For example, if you mix sand and iron paperclips, you can use a magnet to pull the paperclips right out!
A solution is a special kind of mixture. In a solution, one substance dissolves completely into another, like salt in water. The dissolved parts spread out so evenly that you cannot see them anymore.
We want to find out if a cup of hot cocoa is a simple mixture or a special solution. Let's use our reading skills to look up definitions and find clues in the text.
- First, we use a digital dictionary to look up the word 'dissolve'. The guide says it means to mix completely into a liquid.
- Next, we look at our cup of cocoa. We see that the brown cocoa powder has mixed evenly into the hot milk.
- We check to see if we can easily see or scoop out the dry powder. We cannot see any separate powder pieces.
- Since the powder dissolved completely and spread out evenly, we can explain that hot cocoa is a solution!