Uniform throughout — the first sip tastes like the last. Sugar in water, vinegar, soda.
Not uniform — components stay visibly distinct and may settle. Sand in water, oil in water.
Grams of solute per 100 g solution — milk powder, spice mixes.
Grams of solute per 100 mL solution — glucose drips, saline.
mL of solute per 100 mL solution — perfumes, vinegar.
The maximum solute that dissolves at a given temperature — beyond that, the solution is saturated.
Cooling a hot saturated solution slowly grows pure, regularly-shaped crystals.
Splits crude oil into petrol, kerosene, diesel, and more, by close boiling points.
A rising solvent separates ink or pigments into distinct colour spots, by speed of movement.
Oil and water settle by density — the denser liquid drains first through the stopcock.
Camphor turns solid straight to vapour, skipping the liquid stage entirely.
~80% copper, 20% zinc.
~80% copper, 20% tin.
Iron with carbon, chromium, and nickel.
Spinning throws heavier particles outward — separates blood into plasma and cells.
Alum clumps fine particles in muddy water; lemon juice clumps milk proteins into paneer.
Under 1 nm, invisible, never settles — salt water.
1–1000 nm, scatters light (Tyndall effect) — milk, blood.
Over 1000 nm, visible, settles — sand in water.
Uniform throughout / not uniform composition.
Amount of solute in a given solvent or solution.
Cannot dissolve any more solute at that temperature.
Growing pure crystals from a cooling saturated solution.
Separating miscible liquids by differing boiling points.
Separating components by their rate of movement.
Solid ↔ vapour, without passing through liquid.
Spinning out heavy particles / clumping fine ones.
Mixture with particles too small to settle, but large enough to scatter light.
Scattering of light by colloid or suspension particles.