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A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid , [ 1 ] while others extend the definition to include substances like aerosols and gels .
It is particularly applicable to colloidal mixtures; for example, the Tyndall effect is used in nephelometers to determine the size and density of particles in aerosols [1] and other colloidal matter. Investigation of the phenomenon led directly to the invention of the ultramicroscope and turbidimetry.
Sols are stable, so that they do not settle down when left undisturbed, and exhibit the Tyndall effect, which is the scattering of light by the particles in the colloid. The size of the particles can vary from 1 nm - 100 nm. Examples include amongst others blood, pigmented ink, cell fluids, paint, antacids and mud.
Milk is an emulsified colloid of liquid butterfat globules of 0.1 to 10 micrometer dispersed within a water-based solution.. Interface and colloid science is an interdisciplinary intersection of branches of chemistry, physics, nanoscience and other fields dealing with colloids, heterogeneous systems consisting of a mechanical mixture of particles between 1 nm and 1000 nm dispersed in a ...
Colloids are formed by phase separation, though not all phase separations forms colloids - for example oil and water can form separated layers under gravity rather than remaining as microscopic droplets in suspension. A common form of spontaneous phase separation is termed spinodal decomposition; it is described by the Cahn–Hilliard equation.
Air is an example of a solution as well: a homogeneous mixture of gaseous nitrogen solvent, in which oxygen and smaller amounts of other gaseous solutes are dissolved. Mixtures are not limited in either their number of substances or the amounts of those substances, though in most solutions, the solute-to-solvent proportion can only reach a ...
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Unlike solutions and colloids, if left undisturbed for a prolonged period of time, the suspended particles will settle out of the mixture. Although suspensions are relatively simple to distinguish from solutions and colloids, it may be difficult to distinguish solutions from colloids since the particles dispersed in the medium may be too small ...