Which term means combining two or more substances into a new material with different properties?

Which term means combining two or more substances into a new material with different properties?

• A. Plastic
• B. Composite
• C. Glucose
• D. Starch

Answer: (B)

When two or more substances are combined to create a new material with properties that differ from the components, you’re looking at a composite. In a composite, the different ingredients maintain their own identities but work together to give the material new strengths or characteristics—like fiberglass, where glass fibers provide strength and a matrix holds everything together, or concrete, where cement, sand, and gravel form a durable whole. The other terms don’t capture this idea: a plastic is a type of polymer material, while glucose and starch are single chemical substances, not the result of merging separate materials to make something with new properties. So the correct term is composite.

When two or more substances are combined to create a new material with properties that differ from the components, you’re looking at a composite. In a composite, the different ingredients maintain their own identities but work together to give the material new strengths or characteristics—like fiberglass, where glass fibers provide strength and a matrix holds everything together, or concrete, where cement, sand, and gravel form a durable whole. The other terms don’t capture this idea: a plastic is a type of polymer material, while glucose and starch are single chemical substances, not the result of merging separate materials to make something with new properties. So the correct term is composite.