Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to theuniformity of asubstance, process or image. Ahomogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, income, disease, temperature, radioactivity, architectural design, etc.); one that isheterogeneous is distinctly nonuniform in at least one of these qualities.[1][2]
The wordshomogeneous andheterogeneous come fromMedieval Latinhomogeneus andheterogeneus, fromAncient Greek ὁμογενής (homogenēs) and ἑτερογενής (heterogenēs), from ὁμός (homos, "same") and ἕτερος (heteros, "other, another, different") respectively, followed by γένος (genos, "kind"); -ous is an adjectival suffix.[3]
Alternate spellings omitting the last-e- (and the associated pronunciations) are common, but mistaken:[4]homogenous is strictly a biological/pathological term which has largely been replaced byhomologous. But use ofhomogenous to meanhomogeneous has seen a rise since 2000, enough for it to now be considered an "established variant".[5] Similarly,heterogenous is a spelling traditionally reserved to biology andpathology, referring to the property of an object in the body having its origin outside the body.[6]
The concepts are the same to every level of complexity. Fromatoms togalaxies,plants,animals,humans, and otherliving organisms all share both a common or unique set of complexities. Hence, an element may be homogeneous on a larger scale, compared to being heterogeneous on a smaller scale. This is known as aneffective medium approximation.[7][8]
Various disciplines understandheterogeneity, or beingheterogeneous, in different ways.[2]
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Environmental heterogeneity is ahypernym for different environmental factors that contribute to the diversity of species, like climate, topography, and land cover.[9]Biodiversity is correlated withgeodiversity on a global scale. Heterogeneity in geodiversity features and environmental variables are indicators of environmental heterogeneity. They drive biodiversity at local and regional scales.
Scientific literature in ecology contains a big number of different terms for environmental heterogeneity, often undefined or conflicting in their meaning.[10]Habitat diversity andhabitat heterogeneity are a synonyms of environmental heterogeneity.[10]
Inchemistry, aheterogeneous mixture consists of either or both of 1) multiple states of matter or 2)hydrophilic andhydrophobic substances in one mixture; an example of the latter would be a mixture of water,octane, andsilicone grease. Heterogeneous solids, liquids, and gases may be made homogeneous by melting, stirring, or by allowing time to pass fordiffusion to distribute the molecules evenly. For example, adding dye to water will create a heterogeneous solution at first, but will become homogeneous over time.Entropy allows for heterogeneous substances to become homogeneous over time.[11]
A heterogeneous mixture is amixture of two or morecompounds. Examples are: mixtures of sand and water or sand and iron filings, a conglomerate rock, water and oil, a salad,trail mix, and concrete (not cement).[12] A mixture can be determined to be homogeneous when everything is settled and equal, and the liquid, gas, the object is one color or the same form. Various models have been proposed to model the concentrations in different phases. The phenomena to be considered are mass rates and reaction.[citation needed]
Homogeneous reactions arechemical reactions in which the reactants and products are in the samephase, while heterogeneous reactions havereactants in two or more phases. Reactions that take place on the surface of a catalyst of a different phase are also heterogeneous. A reaction between two gases or two miscible liquids is homogeneous. A reaction between a gas and a liquid, a gas and a solid or a liquid and a solid is heterogeneous.[citation needed]
Earth is a heterogeneous substance in many aspects; for instance,rocks (geology) are inherently heterogeneous, usually occurring at the micro-scale and mini-scale.[7]
Informal semantics, homogeneity is the phenomenon in whichplural expressions imply "all" whenasserted but "none" whennegated. For example, theEnglish sentence "Robin read the books" means that Robin read all the books, while "Robin didn't read the books" means that she read none of them. Neither sentence can be asserted if Robin read exactly half of the books. This is a puzzle because the negative sentence does not appear to be theclassicalnegation of the sentence. A variety of explanations have been proposed including that natural language operates on atrivalent logic.[13]
Withinformation technology,heterogeneous computing occurs in anetwork comprising different types of computers, potentially with vastly differingmemory sizes, processing power and even basic underlying architecture.[citation needed]
In algebra,homogeneous polynomials have the same number of factors of a given kind.
In the study ofbinary relations, ahomogeneous relationR is on a single set (R ⊆X ×X) while aheterogeneous relation concerns possibly distinct sets (R ⊆X ×Y, X =Y orX ≠Y).[14]
In statisticalmeta-analysis,study heterogeneity is when multiple studies on an effect are measuring somewhat different effects due to differences in subject population, intervention, choice of analysis, experimental design, etc.; this can cause problems in attempts to summarize the meaning of the studies.
Inmedicine andgenetics, agenetic orallelic heterogeneous condition is one where the same disease or condition can be caused, or contributed to, by several factors, or in genetic terms, by varying or differentgenes oralleles.
Incancer research, cancer cell heterogeneity is thought to be one of the underlying reasons that make treatment ofcancer difficult.[15]
Inphysics, "heterogeneous" is understood to mean "having physical properties that vary within the medium".
Insociology, "heterogeneous" may refer to a society or group that includes individuals of differing ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, sexes, or ages. Diverse is the more common synonym in the context.[16]
Inlandscape ecology, heterogeneity refers to the different elements of a system.[17] Heterogeneous systems support higher biodiversity and is a target for many landscape restoration efforts.[18]
[Clam chowder] represents a nice example of what is known as a heterogeneous material.
Homogeneity in physics.