Difference between Phase, heterogenous and state of matter and solution

Question

My question has already been answered in parts at Difference between state of matter and phase

But for deep and real understanding I have to ask for the difference between phase and a heterogenous mixture :

Say we have a bowl made of glass. The bowl is filled with a few different solid rocks on the ground, water in the middle and some oil on top.

I try to analyse this situation for understanding:

• There is a phase of oil on the top
• There is a phase of water in the middle
• There is a phase of rocks on the ground
• Since the rocks on the ground are not equally the same they are a bunch of single phases that do not mix up to each other
• The rocks on the ground are also a heterogenous mixture
• The air above the water is a phase of gas
• The glass is a solid phase of silicon

Is that correct?

Answer 1

A deep and real understanding?!?

I don't think you'll find any definitions that you can't pick at.

So if in a large bottle you mix some water and benzene that don't fill the bottle then you'll end up with three phases. A gas phase that has air/water/benzene, a liquid phase that is mostly benzene with a tiny amount of water, and another liquid phase that is mostly water with a tiny amount of benzene.

So if I just take some random rocks (different kinds of rocks) and dump then into a bowl of water, then yes there is a solid phase. But as a chemist I wouldn't really think of the random rocks as a phase because there really isn't much of an equilibrium. Picking at this I'd have to admit that a minuscule amount of rock would dissolve in the water. Hence there would be an equilibrium of sorts between the various rocks too.

What we'd normally consider a glass is a mixture of silica and other minerals. However amorphous solids are also referred to as glasses.