Question

Brass is an element
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: Elements are the substances made up of exactly similar types of atoms whereas mixtures are the compounds in which elements are made of more than two elements in varying ratios. In our case brass is an alloy which is made up of two metals i.e. copper and zinc in varying ratios.

Complete step by step answer: It is important to understand the word element, mixture and compound. This is because these convey useful information. Elements are the simplest chemical substances. They are made up of exactly the same atoms. Compounds are the chemical substances which are made up of more than two elements. Mixtures are also the same like compounds except for the fact that in mixtures elements are in fixed ratio in compounds whereas they are in varying ratios in compounds. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc in varying proportions. Thus it can be concluded from the definition that brass is neither compound nor an element but a mixture. Brass is a homogenous mixture of the metals Copper and zinc. Both of the metals are bound physically. They don’t have any chemical bonding between them.

So, the correct answer is “Option B”.

Additional Information: If a substance has a fixed ratio, then only its chemical formula can be derived. But for brass the copper and zinc have metallic bonds, so there is no formula for brass. Therefore there is no symbol for brass.

Note: Never confuse between compounds and mixtures because both of them have more than two or more elements but the key point is that compounds are always in fixed ratio whereas, on the other hand, mixtures have varying proportions like brass.