A material system is a portion of matter that is isolated for study.
The ordered module of components that are interrelated and that maintain interactions with each other is known as a system . These components can be physical objects or abstract concepts.
Material , for its part, is that linked to matter (the primary reality, which can be perceived through the senses, of which things are composed). In general, the material is understood in opposition to the spiritual.
What is a material system
With these definitions, we can understand what the notion of material system refers to. It is a portion of isolated matter to be subjected to certain studies.
While material objects have clearly defined boundaries, material systems do not have strict boundaries.
Classification according to phases
When the material system has identical properties and chemical composition in all its points, it is called a homogeneous material system . This means that the homogeneous material system has a single phase, whether gas, liquid or solid.
The homogeneous ones, which are those that have a single phase, can be divided into two:
-Solutions, which are systems that have two or more components.
-Pure substances, which have a single component.
Heterogeneous material systems , on the other hand, have two or more phases, whose points vary in properties and chemical composition.
In addition to the above, other particularities of the aforementioned heterogeneous systems can also be highlighted, such as these:
-In each of the phases, they have different properties.
-At first glance, it also stands out from those that are discontinuous.
-The contact area that exists between two phases is called interface.
-When it is a heterogeneous material system, different phase separation methods can be used, including, for example, physical ones, in which heat exchange is essential, and separation methods. mechanical cutting. Among the latter, several stand out, such as decanting, centrifugation, sieving, magnetization, filtration or solubilization.
If it has two or more phases, the material system is classified as heterogeneous.
Material systems according to their purity
Another classification differentiates between material systems composed of pure substances and material systems that are mixtures of different substances . The former are made up of a single component with fixed properties and composition that can be a chemical element or a chemical compound.
Material systems formed by mixtures of substances, for their part, contain at least two pure substances. They can be heterogeneous mixtures or homogeneous mixtures. It is possible to separate the different substances from a mixture by distillation , evaporation or another method.
Relationship with the environment
However, we cannot ignore the fact that material systems can also be classified based on the relationship they maintain with the environment. Based on this we come across three different types of systems:
-Open, which is one that is identified because what it does is exchange both energy and mass with the environment.
-Closed, which is that material system that the only thing it exchanges with the environment is energy.
-Isolated, which, as its name already suggests, is one that neither exchanges energy nor mass with the aforementioned environment.