Dominic made the table below to organize his notes about mixtures.

A 1-column table. The first column labeled properties of mixtures has entries has no set composition, must have more than one state of matter, must have more than one substance.

What mistake did Dominic make?

The title should read “Properties of Solutions” because some mixtures do not have all of the properties listed.
There is a definite recipe to make each mixture, so the composition of a mixture is set.
Although it is possible to have more than one state, it is also possible to have only one state.
A single substance can be used to make a mixture if the substance is composed of more than one element.

1 answer

Dominic's mistake lies in the statement regarding the state of matter for mixtures. The correct point should indicate that while some mixtures can exist with more than one state of matter, it is indeed possible for a mixture to consist of only one state of matter. Therefore, the entry "must have more than one state of matter" is incorrect. A mixture can be a homogeneous mixture (solution) or a heterogeneous mixture, and both can exist solely in one state, such as a solid, liquid, or gas.

Thus, the correct critique of Dominic's table would be:

"Although it is possible to have more than one state, it is also possible to have only one state."