Heterogeneous or homogenous?
Is homogenized milk a heterogeneous or homogenous mixture?
Credit: My Chemistry Professor
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
1 solution
@Hobart Pao Milk is a homogeneous rather than heterogeneous mixture. The reason for this is that the different chemical components that comprise milk are not visibly separate.
Log in to reply
It doesn't matter. What matters is uniformity--if I take a drop of milk, it will not be uniform throughout because there will be different concentration of the fat/proteins. I can't take it and mix it so much that it will be uniform throughout. These fats and proteins aren't soluble in the first place.
Properly mixed salt water is homogenous because if I take a drop of it, it will have the same concentration throughout.
Log in to reply
I said fats and proteins are not "visibly" separate . This is the key point to categorize whether solution is homogenous or heterogenous .
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – visibility doesn't matter...
Log in to reply
@Hobart Pao – Then why we consider air as a homogenous mixture ? complexity in air is more than in milk.
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – Same state of matter of components and same concentrations of gases--78% N, 21% O, 0.5% CO_2, etc.
Log in to reply
@Hobart Pao – It is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases combined. While we cannot pick out the individual molecules in the air around us, the composition of the air is the same whether you are in a small room or a huge stadium. This makes the air we breathe an example of a homogeneous mixture.
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – So, when you have milk, is it the same concentration of fats and proteins in every drop? No.
Log in to reply
@Hobart Pao – So the air everywhere has same composition ? I mean in ur country its different and in my country its may be different .But we still say air is a homogenous mixture. We just take an average that air has 21% oxygen , 78 %nitrogen and remaining carbon and other entities . similar is the case with milk.
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – I see what you mean. Then I would argue that air isn't homogenous.
Log in to reply
@Hobart Pao – I am not able to provide u the links to some good answers on nature of mixtures bcoz brilliant.org is not supporting providing links . I encourage u to search air/milk is homogenous or heterogenous.
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – Milk is a colloid. Colloids are heterogeneous
Log in to reply
@Prince Loomba – I agree . But what about air ? Here the definition of homogenous and heterogenous contradicts . I have heard views of a lot of ppl , some say milk is homogenous like air bcoz u can't see the constituent particles with naked eyes and second point as u r mentioning that milk is a colloid ,hence heterogenous.
Log in to reply
@Saraswati Sharma – I suppose definition of colloid and true solution both includes particle size that we can not see so your comparing with air wrt particle size is wrong.
@Hobart Pao – You r doing the same mistake which I did in my middle school.
It's heterogeneous because milk is basically a bunch of floating fat globules, sugars, proteins. Homogenization just makes the fat globules smaller. If you were to shrink yourself and go into the milk, you wouldn't see the same composition throughout.