Colloidal System

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Colloidal System


An intimate mixture of two substances one of which, called the dispersed phase (or colloid ) is uniformly distributed in a finely divided state through the second substance, called the dispersion medium (or dispersing medium ). The dispersion medium may be a gas, a liquid, or a solid, and the dispersed phase may also be any of these, with the exception that one does not speak of a colloidal system of one gas in another. Also called colloidal dispersion, colloidal suspension.
A system of liquid or solid particles colloidally dispersed in a gas is called an aerosol. A system of solid substance or water-insoluble liquid colloidally dispersed in liquid water is called a hydrosol. There is no sharp line of demarcation between true solutions and colloidal system on the one hand, or between mere suspensions and colloidal systems on the other. When the particles of the dispersed phase are smaller than about 1 millimicron in diameter, the system begins to assume the properties of a true solution; when the particles dispersed are much greater than 1 micron, separation of the dispersed phase from the dispersing medium becomes so rapid that the system is best regarded as a suspension.

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use