No, urine is not a pure substance. It is composed of multiple substances that are not bonded to each other, making it a mixture.
Let us explain.
Why Is Urine A Pure Substance? (Or Not?)
What Is A Pure Substance?
Scientifically, a pure substance is a substance that is made up of only one thing.
That thing can be an element, or a compound.
An element is a substance that cannot be broken down or apart into simpler substances.
A good example of a pure substance that is made up of an element is gold, as well as silver, lead, and iron.
A compound is a substance formed when one or more substances (elements, molecules, or compounds) bond to each other.
A good example of a pure substance made up of a compound is water, along with carbon dioxide, salt, and sugar.
What Is Urine?
Key to understanding whether a substance is a pure substance is understanding what the substance is, and what it is made of (and how).
Urine is a liquid (generally).
It contains multiple substances, including but not limited to water, urea, chloride, sodium, potassium, creatine, and more.
The substances in urine are not bonded to each other, and can be filtered out or separated from each other.
Is Urine A Pure Substance?
As you can probably tell, urine doesn’t qualify as a pure substance because it is made up of too many materials that are not bonded to each other.
To be a pure substance, there needs to be only one building block.
Urine has many building blocks, and is thus not a pure substance.
Is Urine A Mixture?
Yes, urine is a mixture.
A mixture is a material composed of more than one substance, where the substances in the material are not bonded to each other.
Some common substances that you probably know of which are good examples of mixtures include: concrete, paper, gasoline, and pizza.
In the case of urine, there is water, with multiple substances that are not bonded to the water or each other.
This makes urine a mixture.
Is Urine A Heterogeneous Or Homogeneous Mixture?
It depends.
Urine can be observed as a homogeneous mixture or a heterogeneous mixture.
A heterogeneous mixture is one that is not chemically and physically consistent throughout the material.
A homogeneous mixture is one that is chemically and physically consistent throughout the material.
In the case of urine, there is water, with various materials either dissolved or suspended throughout the material.
Not all urine is the same.
In any given day or even hour, the urine expelled from a human, animal or otherwise can be different.
There’s no guarantee that the urine in one area of the sample is the same as the other.
That being said, we do think it is possible for a sample of urine to be homogeneous.
This is especially the case if the donor of the sample was particularly well hydrated.
But since this is not always the case, we’d call urine a heterogeneous mixture.
Is Urine A Compound?
No, urine is not a compound.
A compound is formed when more than one substance bonds chemically to another.
Those substances can be elements, molecules, or even other compounds.
Some good examples of compounds include methane, nitrous oxide, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide.
In the case of urine, the material contains compounds.
But the water and compounds are not bonded to each other.
As a result, urine is not a compound.
Is Pee A Mixture?
Yes, your pee is scientifically a mixture. As noted above, it contains multiple substances that are not chemically bonded to each other.
Can You Drink Your Own Urine?
It is possible to drink your own urine, but it is generally not recommended.
Urine contains some excreted vitamins and minerals that your body wasn’t able to use the first time around (such as vitamin C or some of the B vitamins), as well as water.
But it might also contain some substances (like bacteria) which could be harmful to you if you were to consume it.
Remember, urine is all the stuff that your body processed out, either because it was bad or because the body didn’t need it.
It’s a good idea to do whatever you can to clean up the urine before you drink it, if you have no other choice in a survival situation.
Wrap Up
Curious about the properties of other substances, like: concrete, sea coal, moldavite, turkey fat, or opalite? You can also check out our blog for our latest articles answering your questions.
