Imagine that two substances are mixed. They can easily be separated into their original forms. Has a new substance been formed? Explain.

Answer 1

No, a new substance has not been formed. When two substances are easily separable, it indicates that they have undergone a physical change rather than a chemical change. In a physical change, the substance retains its chemical composition and properties, while only its physical form or state changes, such as mixing liquids, dissolving a solid into a liquid, or changing states of matter (e.g., melting, freezing). Constituents of the mixture can be physically separated using various methods, such as filtration, distillation, evaporation, or chromatography. Since the chemical composition of the substances has not changed, they can still be considered as individual entities, and no new substance with different properties has been formed.