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Name:  Shaz
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2/14/2005
Question:
Is wood a compound or a mixture?

Replies:
I would call it a mixture, if only because it has water and structured voids (air) and a modest content of biological molecules other than cellulose. If it is sufficiently shredded to pulp, bleached and dried, you might have an almost homogeneous cellulose powder, consisting of only a few slightly differing compounds.

Jim Swenson

Strictly, wood is a mixture, in as much as it is possible to separate it into various components. Having said that, I think that there is too much emphasis placed on "compound" vs. "mixture" classifications, since it is always possible to find systems that are not clearly one or the other.

Vince Calder


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