A combination of two or more different kinds of matter is called a

• A. Solvent
• B. Solution
• C. Solute
• D. Mixture

Answer: (D)

A mixture is a combination of two or more different kinds of matter. In a mixture, the substances keep their own properties and can usually be separated again by physical means. Mixtures can be uniform, like salt dissolved in water, or nonuniform, like a bowl of mixed nuts where you can still see the different parts.

To connect the other terms: a solvent is the substance that does the dissolving, and the solute is what gets dissolved. When a solute dissolves in a solvent and the composition is uniform throughout, that’s a solution—still a kind of mixture, but specifically a homogeneous one.