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Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Formulations, and separating mixtures

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 9 (Chemistry)

Overview

What a formulation is and why it is never pure, examples such as paints, medicines and brass, the jobs of the pigment and solvent in a paint, why proportions matter and alloys are harder than pure metals, and how filtration, crystallisation, simple distillation and fractional distillation separate mixtures.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Give three everyday products that are formulations.

Key term

In a paint, what jobs are done by the pigment and by the solvent?

Key term

Why do the proportions of the components in a formulation matter so much?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is a formulation?

    Model answer

    It is a mixture designed as a useful product, in which each component is present in a measured quantity for a particular purpose.

  2. 2

    Why is a formulation never a pure substance?

    Model answer

    Because it contains several different substances mixed together and not chemically combined.

  3. 3

    Give three everyday products that are formulations.

    Model answer

    Paints, medicines and cleaning products are all formulations, as are fuels, fertilisers and alloys.

  4. 4

    Why is brass described as a formulation?

    Model answer

    Because it is a mixture of copper and zinc combined in measured proportions to give properties such as hardness that neither metal has alone.

  5. 5

    In a paint, what jobs are done by the pigment and by the solvent?

    Model answer

    The pigment provides the colour, and the solvent allows the paint to be spread thinly before evaporating to leave the coloured film behind.

  6. 6

    Why do the proportions of the components in a formulation matter so much?

    Model answer

    Because the properties of the finished product depend on the proportions, so changing them gives a product that behaves differently.

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