Heterogeneous
Heterogeneous is an adjective that can take on the meaning of difference, diversity, plurality or variety .
The word is used when one wants to refer, in a given context, that a situation, an object or a circumstance is varied, not uniform, with inequalities or that it has different elements in a group.
Societies, people, opinions and ideas can also be classified as heterogeneous, when they are different from each other.
See these examples:
The texture of this stone floor is heterogeneous.
The population of Brazil is very heterogeneous because it is made up of many descendants of immigrants.
This is a heterogeneous working group, formed by professionals from different areas.
Water and oil are heterogeneous substances, so they don’t mix.
heterogeneous in chemistry
In chemistry, the term is used to refer to two or more substances that have different characteristics and that, for this reason, do not mix uniformly.
These mixtures have more than one phase, as the separation of substances can be seen. For example: mixtures can be biphasic (if they have two phases) or triphasic (if they have three different phases).
Thus, in chemistry refers to a mixture in which the substances are not uniformly mixed and one can perceive the different substances that are present.
Difference between with homogeneous
In chemistry, the difference between them substances is defined according to their ability to mix.
When two or more substances do not have the ability to mix completely , they are called heterogeneous. Thus, the mixture may be, for example, two-phase or three-phase.
The best known example is the case of water and oil which, even when mixed, separate again, making it possible to easily visualize the two substances. In this example we have a biphasic heterogeneous mixture .
If the substances mix completely, it will be the case of a homogeneous mixture. This example deals with a single-phase mixture, as the final solution has only one mixing phase.
The mixture of water and sugar is an example of a homogeneous mixture . Once the substances are stirred and mixed, it is not possible to distinguish water from sugar.
heterogeneous nodule
It is a term associated with the field of medicine. Heterogeneous nodules are the nodules that can be seen on imaging tests, such as ultrasound or ultrasound.
In these exams, the nodules appear in a darker color, because the examined human tissue reflects little of the waves sent by the examination device.
These nodules are called hypoechoic nodules.
Synonyms of heterogeneous
They can be used as synonyms for the word, depending on the context used: varied, distinct, different, diverse, plural, non-uniform and unequal.
The antonym of the word heterogeneous is homogeneous.