mixture

A mixture forms when two or more substances are combined physically, with each one keeping its own properties instead of reacting chemically.

• Nothing new is created — sugar stirred into water is still sugar and still water, just spread through each other, which is why a mixture can usually be separated back into its original substances.
• Not every mixture looks the same. In a non-uniform mixture, like a sprout salad, you can pick out the chickpeas and onion by eye; in a uniform one, like sugar dissolved in water, no amount of looking reveals separate particles.
• Even solids can mix uniformly — melt iron with nickel and chromium and you get stainless steel, an alloy so evenly blended that no single metal stands out, yet each retains its own identity underneath.
• Because a mixture's components never truly bond, the ratio in which you combine them is entirely up to you — more sugar just makes a sweeter mixture, not a different substance.