Grade 9-Chem. Elements, Compounds and Mixtures
Grade 9-Chem. Elements, Compounds and Mixtures
Element
A substance made of atoms that all contain the same number of protons and cannot be split
into anything simpler
There are 118 elements found in the Periodic Table
Compound
Mixture
Diagram showing how to represent elements, compounds and mixtures using particle diagrams
Distinguishing Purity
Pure substances melt and boil at specific and sharp temperatures e.g. pure water has a
boiling point of 100 °C and a melting point of 0 °C
Mixtures have a range of melting and boiling points as they consist of different substances
that tend to lower the melting point and broaden the melting point range
Melting and boiling points data can therefore be used to distinguish pure substances from
mixtures
Melting point analysis is routinely used to assess the purity of drugs
This is done using a melting point apparatus which allows you to slowly heat up a small
amount of the sample, making it easier to observe the exact melting point
This is then compared to data tables
The closer the measured value is to the actual melting or boiling point then the purer the
sample is
Cooling Curves
The influence of impurities can be more clearly seen on a heating / cooling curve
If the temperature of a liquid is measured as it cools and freezes the data can be used to
produce a graph
The following graph shows the cooling curve for a sample of a compound
The horizontal part of the graph shows that the compound has a sharp melting point, so the
compound is pure
Cooling curve for a pure substance