Solution, Suspensions, Colloids
Mixtures - Solutions, Colloids and Suspensions
The table below compares solutions, colloids and suspensions.
| |Solutions |Colloids |Suspensions |
|Appearance |Clear, transparent and homogeneous |Cloudy but uniform and homogeneous |Cloudy, heterogeneous, at least two |
| | | |substances visible |
|Particle size |Very small – size of molecules and ions |10 -1,0000 angstroms (Å) |Larger than 10,000 angstroms |
| | |(1 Å = 10-10 metre) | |
|Effect of light on (Tyndall Effect) |None – light passes through |Light is dispersed by particles |Variable |
|Sedimentation |None |None |Particles will eventually settle out. |
|Method of separation of components |Simple or fractional distillation, |Destabilise and filter |Filtration |
| |chromatography | | |
|Examples |Salt in water, ethanol in water |Fog, mist, hand cream, mayonnaise, |Flour in water, sand in water. |
Tyndall effect is the scattering of light by particles in the colloid. Colloid particles may be seen in a beam of light e.g. dust in air in a "shaft" of sunlight
Brownian movement may be used to distinguish
The table below compares solutions, colloids and suspensions.
| |Solutions |Colloids |Suspensions |
|Appearance |Clear, transparent and homogeneous |Cloudy but uniform and homogeneous |Cloudy, heterogeneous, at least two |
| | | |substances visible |
|Particle size |Very small – size of molecules and ions |10 -1,0000 angstroms (Å) |Larger than 10,000 angstroms |
| | |(1 Å = 10-10 metre) | |
|Effect of light on (Tyndall Effect) |None – light passes through |Light is dispersed by particles |Variable |
|Sedimentation |None |None |Particles will eventually settle out. |
|Method of separation of components |Simple or fractional distillation, |Destabilise and filter |Filtration |
| |chromatography | | |
|Examples |Salt in water, ethanol in water |Fog, mist, hand cream, mayonnaise, |Flour in water, sand in water. |
Tyndall effect is the scattering of light by particles in the colloid. Colloid particles may be seen in a beam of light e.g. dust in air in a "shaft" of sunlight
Brownian movement may be used to distinguish