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Kurt Guntheroth

Is sand a mixture or a compound?

Charley Delph  Follow

Sand is a mixture. Sand is classified as a heterogeneous mixture because it does not have the same properties, composition and appearance throughout the mixture. A homogeneous mixture has a uniform mix throughout.

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Eric Johnson  Follow
I guess there are different kinds of sand.More
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Josep Cobos  Follow
This answer doesnt actually explain why sand is a mixture. It just states that it is.More
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Frank Dell  Follow
Indeed there are different kinds of sand. White Sands National Monument has gypsum "sand" and the "black sand" on the Punaluu Black Sand Beach in Hawaii is ground up volcanic rock.More
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BJ Chippindale  Follow

The main component of sand is $\ce{SiO2}$, silicon dioxide. If you purified the sand, you could obtain a pure compound, but in general, natural deposits of sand have $\ce{SiO2}$ and a lot of other "stuff" (e.g. organic molecules, iron oxides, and even biological matter), which is called a mixture.

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