Miscibility - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Miscibility

Miscibility /msblti/ is the property of substances to mix in all proportions (that is, to fully dissolve in
each other at any concentration), forming a homogeneous solution. The term is most often applied to liquids,
but applies also to solids and gases. Water and ethanol, for example, are miscible because they mix in all
proportions.[1]

By contrast, substances are said to be immiscible if a significant proportion does not form a solution. Otherwise,
the substances are considered miscible. For example, butanone is significantly soluble in water, but these two
solvents are not miscible because they are not soluble in all proportions.

In organic compounds, the weight percent of hydrocarbon chain often determines the compound's miscibility
with water. For example, among the alcohols, ethanol has two carbon atoms and is miscible with water, whereas
1-octanol with eight carbons is not. Octanol's immiscibility leads it to be used as a standard for partition
equilibria. This is also the case with lipids; the very long carbon chains of lipids cause them almost always to be
immiscible with water. Analogous situations occur for other functional groups. Acetic acid (CH3COOH) is
miscible with water, whereas valeric acid (C4H9COOH) is not. Simple aldehydes and ketones tend to be
miscible with water, because a hydrogen bond can form between the hydrogen atom of a water molecule and the
unbonded (lone) pair of electrons on the carbonyl oxygen atom.

Immiscible metals are unable to form alloys with each other. Typically, a mixture will be possible in the molten
state, but upon freezing the metals separate into layers. This property allows solid precipitates to be formed by
rapidly freezing a molten mixture of immiscible metals. One example of immiscibility in metals is copper and
cobalt, where rapid freezing to form solid precipitates has been used to create granular GMR materials.

There also exist metals that are immiscible in the liquid state. One with industrial importance is that liquid zinc
and liquid silver are immiscible in liquid lead, while silver is miscible in zinc. This leads to the Parkes process,
an example of liquid-liquid extraction, whereby lead containing any amount of silver is melted with zinc. The
silver migrates to the zinc, which is skimmed off the top of the two-phase liquid, and the zinc is boiled away,
leaving nearly pure silver.

Substances with extremely low configurational entropy, especially polymers, are likely to be immiscible in one
another even in the liquid state.

Miscibility of two materials is often determined optically. When the two miscible liquids are combined, the
resulting liquid is clear. If the mixture is cloudy the two materials are immiscible. Care must be taken with this
determination. If the indices of refraction of the two materials are similar, an immiscible mixture may be clear
and give an incorrect determination that the two liquids are miscible.

1 of 2 7/19/17, 9:55 AM