Take your time on this

It's almost time for bed, but before you're ready to go to sleep, you decide to make yourself a cup of hot chocolate and a tasty snack. As the milk is heating, you pour some pretzels, popcorn, and cereal bits into a big bowl. When the milk is hot, you stir in the hot chocolate mix, and settle down to enjoy your snack.

Which mixture is most likely homogeneous?

Which mixture is most likely heterogeneous?

Identify the solution in this story.

Identify the solute in this story.

Identify the solvent in this story

Do you think the chocolate would have mixed in with the milk more quickly if the milk had been cold?

1. Which mixture is most likely homogeneous

The homogeneous mixtures are those mixtures of uniform elements, whose components can not be differentiated with the naked eye.

When mixing the hot milk with the chocolate mix we obtain a homogeneous mixture since when mixing them, their elements do not differ from one another.

2. Which mixture is most likely heterogeneous?

A heterogeneous mixture is one that has a non-uniform composition in which its components can be easily distinguished.

By adding some pretzels, popcorn, and cereal bits into a big bowl we get a heterogeneous mix since we can differentiate its components, that is, we can differentiate popcorns from pretzels or cereal bits.

3. Identify the solution in this story.

A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances.

As mixing the hot chocolate mix with the hot milk we obtain a homogenous mixture, that is the solution in this story.

4. Identify the solute in this story.

The solute is the substance that, in general, is found in a smaller amount in a solution and that dissolves in the mixture.

In this story the solute is the hot chocolate mix since it is the component that is added in less quantity to make a cup of hot chocolate.

5. Identify the solvent in this story

The solvent is the substance that usually appears in greater quantity in a solution and is where the solute dissolves.

In the cup of hot chocolate, the solvent is the hot milk since you dissolved the chocolate mix on it.

6. Do you think the chocolate would have mixed in with the milk more quickly if the milk had been cold?

The ability of one substance to dissolve in another is called solubility. The solubility of a solute is the amount of this, in grams, which can be dissolved in 100 grams of water to form a saturated solution. It is considered that a solution is saturated when no more solute is allowed and the excess is deposited in the bottom of the container.

When a solution is heated it dissolves more solute than at room temperature since the increase in temperature makes the space between the liquid particles larger and dissolves a larger amount of solid. According to this explanation, it will be more difficult to dissolve the chocolate mix in the cold milk so it would take longer to do it.