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The hydrogen molecule, H subscript 2, is shown as two small, white balls bonded together. The oxygen molecule O subscript 2, is shown as two red balls bonded together. The phosphorous molecule, P subscript 4, is shown as four orange balls bonded tightly together. The sulfur molecule, S subscript 8, is shown as 8 yellow balls linked together. Water molecules, H subscript 2 O, consist of one red oxygen atom bonded to two smaller white hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen atoms are at an angle on the oxygen molecule. Carbon dioxide, C O subscript 2, consists of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. One oxygen atom is bonded to the carbon’s right side and the other oxygen is bonded to the carbon’s left side. Glucose, C subscript 6 H subscript 12 O subscript 6, contains a chain of carbon atoms that have attached oxygen or hydrogen atoms.
The elements hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur form molecules consisting of two or more atoms of the same element. The compounds water, carbon dioxide, and glucose consist of combinations of atoms of different elements.

Classifying matter

We can classify matter into several categories. Two broad categories are mixtures and pure substances. A pure substance    has a constant composition. All specimens of a pure substance have exactly the same makeup and properties. Any sample of sucrose (table sugar) consists of 42.1% carbon, 6.5% hydrogen, and 51.4% oxygen by mass. Any sample of sucrose also has the same physical properties, such as melting point, color, and sweetness, regardless of the source from which it is isolated.

We can divide pure substances into two classes: elements and compounds. Pure substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical changes are called elements . Iron, silver, gold, aluminum, sulfur, oxygen, and copper are familiar examples of the more than 100 known elements, of which about 90 occur naturally on the earth, and two dozen or so have been created in laboratories.

Pure substances that can be broken down by chemical changes are called compounds . This breakdown may produce either elements or other compounds, or both. Mercury(II) oxide, an orange, crystalline solid, can be broken down by heat into the elements mercury and oxygen ( [link] ). When heated in the absence of air, the compound sucrose is broken down into the element carbon and the compound water. (The initial stage of this process, when the sugar is turning brown, is known as caramelization—this is what imparts the characteristic sweet and nutty flavor to caramel apples, caramelized onions, and caramel). Silver(I) chloride is a white solid that can be broken down into its elements, silver and chlorine, by absorption of light. This property is the basis for the use of this compound in photographic films and photochromic eyeglasses (those with lenses that darken when exposed to light).

This figure shows a series of three photos labeled a, b, and c. Photo a shows the bottom of a test tube that is filled with an orange-red substance. A slight amount of a silver substance is also visible. Photo b shows the substance in the test tube being heated over a flame. Photo c shows a test tube that is not longer being heated. The orange-red substance is almost completely gone, and small, silver droplets of a substance are left.
(a)The compound mercury(II) oxide, (b)when heated, (c) decomposes into silvery droplets of liquid mercury and invisible oxygen gas. (credit: modification of work by Paul Flowers)

The properties of combined elements are different from those in the free, or uncombined, state. For example, white crystalline sugar (sucrose) is a compound resulting from the chemical combination of the element carbon, which is a black solid in one of its uncombined forms, and the two elements hydrogen and oxygen, which are colorless gases when uncombined. Free sodium, an element that is a soft, shiny, metallic solid, and free chlorine, an element that is a yellow-green gas, combine to form sodium chloride (table salt), a compound that is a white, crystalline solid.

A mixture    is composed of two or more types of matter that can be present in varying amounts and can be separated by physical changes, such as evaporation (you will learn more about this later). A mixture with a composition that varies from point to point is called a heterogeneous mixture    . Italian dressing is an example of a heterogeneous mixture ( [link] ). Its composition can vary because we can make it from varying amounts of oil, vinegar, and herbs. It is not the same from point to point throughout the mixture—one drop may be mostly vinegar, whereas a different drop may be mostly oil or herbs because the oil and vinegar separate and the herbs settle. Other examples of heterogeneous mixtures are chocolate chip cookies (we can see the separate bits of chocolate, nuts, and cookie dough) and granite (we can see the quartz, mica, feldspar, and more).

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Source:  OpenStax, Chemistry. OpenStax CNX. May 20, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11760/1.9
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