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Suspension (chemistry)

 
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Suspension (chemistry)
 
 
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In chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
, a suspension is a heterogeneous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation
Sedimentation

Sedimentation describes the motion of molecules in solutions or particle s in suspension in response to an external force such as gravitation, centrifugal force or electromagnetism....
. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometre. The internal phase (solid) is dispersed throughout the external phase (fluid) through mechanical agitation, with the use of certain excipients or suspending agents.






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Waterandfloursuspensionliquid
In chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
, a suspension is a heterogeneous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation
Sedimentation

Sedimentation describes the motion of molecules in solutions or particle s in suspension in response to an external force such as gravitation, centrifugal force or electromagnetism....
. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometre. The internal phase (solid) is dispersed throughout the external phase (fluid) through mechanical agitation, with the use of certain excipients or suspending agents. Unlike colloids, suspensions will eventually settle. An example of a suspension would be sand in water. The suspended particles are visible under a microscope and will settle over time if left undisturbed. This distinguishes a suspension from a colloid
Colloid

A colloid is a type of chemical mixture where one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another. The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the mixture, unlike a solution, where they are completely dissolved within....
 in which the suspended particles are smaller and do not settle. In a solution, the dissolved substance does not exist as a solid and the two are homogeneously mixed

A suspension of liquid droplets or fine solid particles in a gas is called an aerosol
Particulate

Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter or fine particles, are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas or liquid....
. In the atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, and trace amounts of other gases....
 these consist of fine dust and soot
Soot

Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyzed fuel particles such as cenospheres, charred wood, petroleum coke, etc....
 particles, sea salt
Sea salt

Sea salt, obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. Historically called bay salt, its mineral content gives it a different taste from table salt, which is pure sodium chloride, usually refined from mined rock salt or from sea salt....
, biogenic and volcanogenic
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
 sulfate
Sulfate

In inorganic chemistry, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid....
s, nitrate
Nitrate

In inorganic chemistry, a nitrate is a salt of nitric acid with an ion composed of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms . In organic chemistry the esters of nitric acid and various alcohols are called nitrates....
s, and cloud
Cloud

A cloud is a visible mass of Drop or frozen crystals floating in the Celestial body atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body....
 droplets.

Suspensions are classified on the basis of the dispersed phase and the dispersion medium, where the former is essentially solid while the latter may either be a solid, a liquid or a gas.

Common examples

  • Mud
    MUD

    In Online game, a MUD , pronounced /m?d/, is a multi-user real-time virtual world described entirely in text. It combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, interactive fiction, and online chat....
     or muddy water, is where soil
    Soil

    Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
    , clay
    Clay

    Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
    , or silt
    Silt

    Silt is soil or Rock derived granular material of a Particle size between sand and clay. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body....
     particles are suspended in water.
  • Flour
    Flour

    Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
     suspended in water, as pictured to the right.
  • Paint
    Paint

    Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a Substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film....
  • Chalk
    Chalk

    Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
     powder suspended in water.
  • Dust
    Dust

    Dust is a general name for minute solid particles with diameters less than 20 Thou . Particles in the Earth's atmosphere arise from various sources such as soil dust lifted up by wind, volcanic eruptions, and pollution....
     particles suspended in air.
  • Algae
    Algae

    Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
     in water
  • Milk of Magnesia
    Milk of Magnesia

    Milk of Magnesia is an aqueous suspension of magnesium hydroxide, magnesium2 in water. Milk of Magnesia is a salt osmosis laxative. The name derives from the suspension's milky white appearance and the magnesium in its composition....


See also

  • colloid
    Colloid

    A colloid is a type of chemical mixture where one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another. The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the mixture, unlike a solution, where they are completely dissolved within....
  • sol
    Sol (colloid)

    A sol is a colloidal suspension of solid particles in a liquid. Examples include blood, pigmented ink, and paint.Artificial sols may be prepared by dispersion or condensation....
  • emulsion
    Emulsion

    An emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible liquids. One liquid is dispersion in the other . Many emulsions are oil/water emulsions, with dietary fats being one common type of oil encountered in everyday life....
  • turbidity
    Turbidity

    Turbidity is the cloudiness or haze of a fluid caused by individual Particle that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air....
  • settleable solids
    Settling

    Settling is the process by which particulates settle to the bottom of a liquid and form a sediment. ]Particles that experience a force, either due to gravity or due to centrifugal motion will tend to move in a uniform manner in the direction exerted by that force....
  • sediment transport
    Sediment

    Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
  • solution
    Solution

    In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
  • mixture
    Mixture

    In chemistry, a mixture is a substance made by combining two or more different materials without a chemical reaction occurring .While there are no physical changes in a mixture, the chemical properties of a mixture, such as its melting point, may differ from those of its components....
  • Tyndall effect
    Tyndall effect

    The Tyndall effect is an effect of light scattering by colloid particles or particles in Suspension . It is named after the 19th century Irish scientist John Tyndall....