Definition:Homogeneous (Physics)

This page is about Homogeneous in the context of Physics. For other uses, see Homogeneous.

Definition

A body is said to be homogeneous if and only if the substance of any part of it is indistinguishable from any other part.

Warning

Just to specify that a body is made of the same substance throughout is not an adequate definition of homogeneous.

For example, a column of air in the atmosphere is denser at the bottom than at the top.

The fact that it is "all made of air" is one thing, but the air at the bottom can be distinguished from that higher up because the densities are different.

Thus a column of air is not homogeneous.

Heterogeneous

The opposite of homogeneous is heterogeneous.

That is, a body is heterogeneous if and only if the substance any part of it has different properties from the substance of any other part of it.

Linguistic Note

The word homogeneous comes from the Greek meaning of the same type.