Why is air a mixture not a compound?
Air is a mixture of gases because it is composed of a mixture of various gases, not just one. Air is composed of a mixture of oxygen gas, nitrogen gas, helium, hydrogen gas, and carbon dioxide, among a few others. These components exist in air as separate, unreactive, and unbound entities (molecules). If air was a compound, the above mentioned gases would be chemically bonded together in some sort of fixed ratios (like H20), which the’re not.
