Chemical
substances (also sometimes referred to as
a pure substances) are often defined as
"any material with a definite chemical
composition" in most introductory general
chemistry textbooks. According to this
definition a chemical substance can either
be a pure chemical element or a pure
chemical compound. However, there are
exceptions to this definition; a pure
substance can also be defined as a form of
matter that has both definite
composition and distinct properties.
The chemical substance index published by
CAS also includes several
alloys of uncertain composition.
Non-stoichiometric compounds are a
special case (in inorganic chemistry) that
violates the law of constant composition,
and for them, it is sometimes difficult to
draw the line between a mixture and a
compound, as in the case of
palladium hydride.