billions and billions of different things,

億萬復億萬不同的物品

like pickles

像酸黃瓜

and pianos

鋼琴

and dump trucks

砂石車

and octopi.

章魚

And even though these things seem totally different,

即使這些物品看起來完全不同

they're all made of the same stuff,

它們都是由同樣的「東西」組成

just combined in different ways.

只是以不同方式結合

To give you an idea of how this combining works,

為了讓你知道這結合的原理為何

let's take something apart.

我們來做拆解動作

Let's start with this bowl of macaroni salad.

就從這碗通心粉沙拉講起吧

If you were to reverse a recipe for macaroni salad,

假使你倒著看通心粉沙拉食譜

you'll see it's made by mixing together

你會發現它是由

a bunch of ingredients,

一堆食材製成的

like macaroni,

像是通心粉

mayo,

美乃滋

vinegar,

醋

vegetables,

蔬菜

and mustard.

和芥末醬

This type of combining is called a mixture.

這種類型的結合稱作混合物

When you make a mixture,

當你做一種混合物

you're combining two or more things together

你是將兩種或兩種以上的物品結合

without actually changing

但沒有改變

the chemical identity of those things,

任何物品的化學特性

like mud, for example.

舉例來說，泥漿

The soil and water in mud haven't actually changed.

泥漿由土壤和水結合，本質並沒有改變

They're still soil and water,

它們還是土壤和水

you've just created a mixture of soil and water,

你只是創造了土壤和水的混合物

mud.

泥漿

It turns out that macaroni salad

事實上通心粉沙拉

is actually a mixture of mixtures

是由許多混合物所組成的混合物

because many of the ingredients,

因為裡面有許多食材

like mayo and mustard,

像是美乃滋和芥末醬

are already mixtures themselves,

本身就已經是混合物

which is nice for us

這樣對我們正好

because if we look closely,

因為如果我們仔細看

we'll the see the three main types of mixtures that exist.

我們會看到三種主要的混合物存在

The size of the particles in a mixture

混合物中的顆粒大小

determines the type of mixture.

決定了混合物的類型

On one end of the scale is a suspension,

在刻度的一端是懸浮液

like our muddy water example.

就像剛剛舉的泥水的例子

You get this if you take big chunks of something

你得到懸浮液，如果你把大塊的物質

and mix it with something else

和其他物質混合

so those chunks are just floating around.

所以這些大塊物質只是分散浮動

Take runny mustard for example.

芥末醬就是個例子

You'll see a bunch of little particles

你會看到一堆小顆粒

like mustard seeds,

像芥菜種子

pepper,

胡椒

allspice,

多香果

and minced shallots

及剁碎的青蔥

all floating around in a liquid,

都飄浮在液體中

in this case vinegar and water.

在這裡也就是醋和水

This is called a suspension

這稱作懸浮液

because you've got particles of one thing

因為你得到的是一種物品的顆粒

suspended in another.

懸浮在另一種物品裡

Now, on the other end of the spectrum

現在，在範圍的另一端

is a solution.

是溶液

The particles in this mixture are so small,

這種混合物內的顆粒是如此的小

they are the actual molecules.

它們其實是分子

A solution is sort of like a suspension of molecules

溶液有點像分子懸浮液

where one type of molecule is blended

其中的一種分子會與

or dissolved with another.

另一種混合或分解

Vinegar is an example of a solution

醋就是溶液的一個實例

where the molecules of acetic acid

其中的醋酸分子

are blended with molecules of water.

與水分子混合

The chemical properties of the molecules haven't changed,

這些分子的化學性質不會改變

they're just evenly mixed together now.

它們只是均勻的混在一起而已

Saltwater and carbonated soda

鹽水及氣泡飲料

are both examples of solutions

兩者都是溶液的例子

where other molecules are dissolved in water.

有其它的分子溶解在水中

The last type of mixture is called a colloid,

最後一種混合物稱為膠體

which is somewhere between a suspension and a solution.

介於懸浮液及溶液間

It's when you take two materials that don't dissolve

這是當你把兩種 原來不能混合的物質結合

and you make the particles so small

且把顆粒弄得非常小

that they can't separate.

以至於不能分開

Mayo is what happens

美乃滋是

when you take oil and water,

你把油及水

which don't mix,

這兩種不能混合之物

and you bind them together,

結合在一起後的產物

usually with the help of another substance

這通常需要另一種物質的幫助

called an emulsifier.

稱為乳化劑

In the case of mayo, it's lecithin, found in eggs.

在美乃滋這個例子中 就是卵磷脂，存在於蛋內

And now, you are left with really small globs of oil

所以現在你得到了由非常小的油滴

hanging out with really small droplets of water.

與非常小的水滴混合在一起的物品

Whipped cream,

鮮奶油

hairspray,

髮膠

styrofoam,

保利龍

and Jello

及果凍

are all other examples of colloids.

是膠體的其他例子

So, let's get back to macaroni salad.

所以讓我們回到通心粉沙拉

You've call colloids like mayo,

你有了稱作膠體如美乃滋

suspensions like mustard,

懸浮液如芥末醬

and solutions like vinegar,

及溶液如醋

but you've also got celery,

但你還有西洋芹

shallots,

青蔥

and all other vegetable chunks

及其它切塊的蔬菜

that are also part of the salad.

也是這種沙拉的一部分

These aren't mixtures, really,

這些不能稱作混合物

but we can break them up,

但我們能分解它們

just like a TV can be broken up

就像一台電視可以被分解成

into smaller and smaller complex component parts.

愈來愈小的複雜零件

In the case of vegetables,

在蔬菜這個例子中

if you keep breaking things up,

如果你持續分解它們

they'll eventually end with thousands

最終會得到成千上萬的

of complex organic molecules,

複雜的有機分子

things like ATP synthase

物品如三磷酸腺苷合酶

and RNA transcriptase

逆轉錄酶

and water.

及水

So now, once we've unblended all the solutions,

所以現在，一旦我們還原溶液共混狀態

unmixed all the colloids,

還原混合的膠體

separated all the suspensions,

分開所有的懸浮液

and taken apart all of our vegetables,

拆解我們所有的蔬菜

we've reached the end of what we can unmix physically.

我們就會達到 物理性分解的極限

What we're left with is a whole bunch of molecules,

我們所剩的是一大堆的分子

and these molecules remain chemically the same

而這些分子仍然保持相同的化學性質

whether they are by themselves

無論它們是自己獨個存在

or thrown together in a salad.

或丟在一起拌成沙拉

If you want to separate these guys even further,

如果你想要進一步分解這些傢伙

we need to unmix things chemically,

我們必須在化學上分解物品

which means we need to start breaking some bonds.

意思是我們必須開始打斷一些鍵結