Emulsions, Solutions & Mixtures
📋 What it is
Mixing science explains how dressings, sauces and drinks combine — or separate — their ingredients.
🗣️ Coach says
Mixing is chemistry. A SOLUTION dissolves one thing evenly in another (salt in water). An EMULSION forces two things that hate to mix — like oil and water — to combine into a smooth blend (mayonnaise, vinaigrette), usually with a helper (egg yolk, mustard) that holds them together. Shake a dressing and watch it separate again.
🧠 Memory hook
Solution = dissolved evenly (salt+water) · emulsion = oil+water forced to blend (needs a helper).
😂 Giggle
Why was the baking soda so popular?
It always had a bubbly reaction!
😲 Whoa!
Mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil and water held together by egg yolk — without the yolk, the oil and water would refuse to mix and split right back apart.
✅ Quick check: Why does oil-and-vinegar dressing separate but mayonnaise stays smooth?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Mayo has an emulsifier (egg yolk) holding the oil and water together; plain dressing has none, so it separates.
Emulsifiers stabilise oil-water mixtures.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Shake oil and water in a jar — watch it separate; a drop of mustard or yolk helps it stay mixed.