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Colloid
In chemistry, a colloid is a mixture in which one substance of microscopically dispersed insoluble or soluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Sometimes the dispersed substance alone is called the colloid; the term colloidal suspension refers unambiguously to the overall mixture (although a narrower sense of the word suspension is distinguished from colloids by larger particle size). Unlike a solution, whose solute and solvent constitute only one phase, a colloid has a dispersed phase (the suspended particles) and a continuous phase (the medium of suspension) that arise by phase separation. To qualify as a colloid, the mixture must be one that does not settle or would take a very long time to settle appreciably.
The dispersed-phase particles have a diameter between approximately 1 and 1000 nanometers. Such particles are normally easily visible in an optical microscope, although at the smaller size range (r
Some colloids are translucent because of the Tyndall effect, which is the scattering of light by particles in the colloid. Other colloids may be opaque or have a slight color. The cytoplasm of living cells is an example of a colloid, containing many types of biomolecular condensate.
Colloidal suspensions are the subject of interface and colloid science. This field of study was introduced in 1845 by Italian chemist Francesco Selmi and further investigated since 1861 by Scottish scientist Thomas Graham.
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Colloid (adjective)
Glue-like; gelatinous.
“colloid tumours”
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Colloid (noun)
A stable system of two phases, one of which is dispersed in the other in the form of very small droplets or particles.
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Colloid (noun)
An intimate mixture of two substances one of which, called the dispersed phase (or colloid), is uniformly distributed in a finely divided state throughout the second substance, called the dispersion medium (or dispersing medium).
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Colloid (noun)
A particle less than 1 micron in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
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Suspension (noun)
The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended.
“suspension from a hook”
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Suspension (noun)
A temporary or conditional delay, interruption or discontinuation.
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Suspension (noun)
The state of a dissolved in, a fluid, and are capable of separation by straining.
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Suspension (noun)
The act of keeping a person who is listening in doubt and expectation of what is to follow.
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Suspension (noun)
The temporary barring of a person from a workplace, society, etc. pending investigation into alleged misconduct.
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Suspension (noun)
The process of barring a student from school grounds as a form of punishment (particularly out-of-school suspension).
“suspension from school as a disciplinary measure”
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Suspension (noun)
The act of or tones of a chord into the chord which follows, thus producing a momentary discord, suspending the concord which the ear expects.
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Suspension (noun)
A stay or postponement of the execution of a sentence, usually by letters of suspension granted on application to the Lord Ordinary.
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Suspension (noun)
A collapsing each end of the product to a point.
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Suspension (noun)
A function derived, in a standard way, from another, such that the instant function’s domain and codomain are suspensions of the original function’s.
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Suspension (noun)
The springs and wheels in an shock to its occupants.