Question

Suppose you stir a little baking soda into water until the water looks clear again. How could you prove to someone that the clear material is a solution, not a compound?

Answer 1

You can prove this by letting the water evaporate or using a instrument that can measure the solids in a liquid.

Answer 2

Explanation:

A solution is defined as the substance formed due to addition of two or more number of substances. A solution is a homogeneous mixture.

And, homogeneous mixtures are always clear solution. Particles of a homogeneous solution never combine chemically with each other.

For example, when we dissolve baking soda in water then it will completely dissolve in water forming a clear solution.

So, in order to determine that it is a solution we can let the water from the solution to evaporate.

This will leave behind the solute, that is, baking soda in the vessel. This will show that it is a solution.

Whereas a compound is defined as the substance in which different elements are chemically combined together in a fixed ratio by mass.

For example, $MgSO_{4}$ is a compound and elements are present in 1:4 ratio.

Components of a compound can only be separated by chemical means and not by any physical means.