Chemical Classification

Broadily speaking,all kinds of matter nay be classified into the following two types:(I) Homogeneous and (ii) Heterogeneous The word 'material' is commonly used for all kinds of matter whether homogeneous or heterogeneous. homogeneous is a term in chemistry and material science that refers to substances and mixtures which are in single phase.This refers to smooth variation of properties with no discontinuities or jumps.In chemistry, a homogeneous suspension of material means that when dividing the volume in half,same amount of material is suspended in both halves of the substances. Since any distinct portion of matter that is uniform throughout in composition and properties is called a 'phase',hence A material is said to be homogeneous if it consists of only ibe phase. On the other hand,a material is said to be heterogeneous if it consists of a number of phases. The composition of each phase is uniform throughout within it but is quite different from those if the other phases. the different phases are separated from each other by distinct boundaries. for example,water,iron,salt,a solution of salt in wate,air(which contains a number of gases),motor oil(which contains a number of hydrocarbons) etc are homogeneous whereas a mixture of ice and water,salt and sand,iron and sulphur are heterogeneous. However, a more scientific way of classification, called the 'chemical classification of matter' is briefly described below: All types of materials are believed to be made up of 'substances'.A material containing only one substance is called a 'pure substance'.On the other hand,materials containing more than into two types,called 'elements' and 'compounds'.
By Ashish Chaudhary