Mixing Solids and Liquids

Looking Around 2 — everyday kitchen and play activities where things get mixed together, like making lemonade or mixing paints.

• When we mix two or more things together, we get a mixture.
• Some mixtures let us still see each part (like rice and pulses).
• Some mixtures blend so well we cannot see the parts separately (like sand in water, stirred).

Verbal: A mixture is made when two or more things are put together and stirred or shaken, without a new substance forming.

Symbolic: Mixing: Thing A + Thing B → Mixture (both still present).

Level 1 — Mixing solids with solids

Rice + pulses mixed in one bowl — you can still pick out each grain.

Level 1 — Mixing solids with liquids

Sand + water, stirred — sand settles at the bottom; water stays on top.

Level 1 — Everyday mixtures

Level 2 — Can we separate again?

Many mixtures can be separated back — pick out the pulses, or let sand settle.

Level 2 — India

Mixing besan (gram flour) with water to make batter for pakoras; mixing spices for a masala.

You mix small pebbles and cotton balls in a box. Is this a mixture? Can you separate them again?

Step 1 — Pebbles and cotton are both still there, just together.
Step 2 — This is a **mixture**.
Step 3 — You can pick out pebbles by hand; cotton remains.
Answer: Yes, it is a mixture, and yes, you can separate them by hand.

• Name a mixture of two solids you eat.
• What happens when you stir sand into water and then let it rest?
• Is milk with sugar stirred in a mixture?

Stretch: If you mix red and yellow sand, can you get each colour back easily?

Revision tip: Look in your kitchen for three mixtures and name their parts.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Mixing Solids and Liquids.