Homogeneous - Definition and Examples - Biology Online Dictionary (2023)

What is homogeneous? What does homogeneous mean?The word homogeneous comes from two Greek words which are "homo", which meansI am tanI "Epic", which meansPolite. Therefore, homogeneous meaning refers to those considered to beEverything the same,similaror present insame proportion.

Uniform definition

Homogeneous (definition):generally means "of the same kind" or similar. In biology, it's an old termhomologous, which is defined as "having relevant parts, similar structures or the same anatomical positions".Etymology:from the Latin homo, which means "same", and "brilliant" means "kind".Variant:homogeneous.Antonyms:heterogeneous

We can define homogeneous as"to be the same"Lub"both". It can be used to describe entities exhibiting such characteristics. For example, homogeneous substances are substances that are uniform throughout their volume and composition. Thus, if two samples are taken from two different sections in homogeneous mixtures and substances, they will be identical in composition and properties.

When two or more substances are mixed without going through any chemical transformation, the resulting form is called a mixture. Mechanical mixing or mixing of substances such as elements andrelationshipsis what characterizes the mixture. There is no chemical bonding, nor is there any form of chemical change. In this way, the substances in the mixture retain their chemical properties and structure. Some of the notable characteristics that remain the same throughout a homogeneous substance are size, shape, color, height, weight, distribution, texture, temperature, radioactivity, structure, and many other details.

A very common example of homogeneity in our daily lives is mixing a color (such as ink) with water, resulting in a very homogeneous solution. The color mixes evenly with water, and the composition of each part of the solution is the same.How to separate substances in a mixture?They can be separated mechanically. Some methods include centrifugation, filtration, heating or gravity sorting.

It's just about using the term in chemistry or biochemistry. In other fields of science, such as ecology, the term "homogeneous" is used to refer touniformity apopulation. For example, a population consisting of individuals bred by exclusively asexual reproduction— that is, having identical genes and characteristics —is homogeneous. Scientists assumed that if different directions came from the same source, the universe could work in a uniform way. (ref.1)

Another aspect where homogeneity is used in the related field of biology isEvolutionary biology. Homogeneous is an old termhomologous, Whichrefers, for example, to anatomical parts that have apparent structure, especially due to descent from a common ancestor.

The word homogeneous has been used extensively in various branches of science such as biology, chemistry and ecology, but collectively the word is always used to represent entities inmixsharing the same characteristics. For example, in chemistry, the word homogeneous describes a mixture in which the substances are evenly distributed. However, at the molecular level, they do notchemical bondsbetween them. The most common example of a homogeneous mixture around us is air.

Homogeneous versus heterogeneous

As mentioned earlier, a mixture refers to the physical coming together of substances (which in chemistry can be elements or compounds). There are two types of mixtures: (1)homogeneous mixturei (2)heterogeneous mixture.

Heterogeneous (variant: heterogeneous) is the opposite of homogeneous. Refers to substances in a mixture that have different properties ("hetero" meaning "different"). The most common example of a heterogeneous mixture is a mixture of oil and water, because they form two different layers that do not mix with each other, thus forming two independent layers.

Some of the most significant characteristics of heterogeneous mixtures are the uneven distribution of particles in the mixture. The nature of the mixture as heterogeneous can be seen by analyzing it with the naked eye. In addition, all heterogeneous mixtures have a heterogeneous composition (see Fig. 1).

Table 1: Differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures(Ref. 2, 3)

Although the concept and composition of both homogeneous and heterogeneous substances differ significantly from each other, both are not constant and are subject to change depending on context and composition. Let's take blood as an example. Blood appears uniform to the naked eye. However, under the microscope, blood is composed of various components such as red blood cells, plasma and platelets, which indicates that it is heterogeneous (see Figure 2).

Homogeneous examples in biology

In our daily life we ​​encounter many examples of homogeneous mixtures and entities. In biology, a homogeneous population refers to a population where individuals have essentially the same genetic constitution due to certain ways of asexual reproduction. The offspring resulting from asexual reproduction are homogeneous because they are identical, including their parents. But on the other hand, there are also many animals (such as the goat population) that may look homogeneous but are not, because they reproduce bysexual reproduction. Scientists believe that uniformity leads to reductionbiodiversity, and for this reason, the chances of their premature extinction due to environmental changes are high. A typical example of a homogeneous population is the cloning of animals.Dolly the Sheepwas the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult somatic cell (Figure 3).

In ecology, homogeneous refers to species that have indistinguishable characteristics and look exactly the same. Such species seem to have less biodiversity within them. Biodiversity means the diversity and abundance of species in a given area and over time, and the homogeneity of an ecosystem can be measured by a special basic unit, i.e. biodiversity.species richness.

Species richness measures the number of different species present in a given ecological environmentcommunity. It shows the comparative number of species living in an ecosystem, not their relative abundance. Thus, in a homogeneous ecosystem, species richness is expected to be lower, as indicated by high species richnessheterogeneity. This is particularly evident in the case of endemic species that have lived and adapted in a particular geographic location for centuries and are found nowhere else. Typical examples of homogeneity in an ecosystem are grasses, trees, ants, fungi and some mammals. (Ref. 4) New Zealand is a haven for many endemic species found nowhere else in the world. read itTeaching learn about the uniqueness of New Zealand ecology.

In evolutionary biology, homogeneous has been a fairly common term to describe the structures of different species that are structurally similar, indicating a common evolutionary ancestry. See Figure 4 below. The anatomical features of the forelimbs of various animals are shown. Having the same forelimb bone elements indicates a common evolutionary ancestor.

Application

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that substances that are homogeneous in terms of volume and composition are homogeneous substances. In chemistry, homogeneous mixtures have the same size, shape, color, texture, and many other aspects. Common homogeneous mixtures are a solution that does not separate over time. In biology and ecology, species that are identical but lack biodiversity and species richness are referred to as homogeneous. Similarly, many solutions are widely used in our daily lives, the blood and DNA present in us are examples of homogeneity. Heterogeneous mixtures are mixtures that have the opposite properties to the homogeneous properties. Thus, a heterogeneous mixture has a non-homogeneous composition, exhibiting many phases, where the phases cannot be separated by physical transformations. Moreover, they are culturally rich and diverse. Similarly, it has been observed that both homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures are not constant and change depending on context and composition. Thus, it can be seen that both heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures are equally important.

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