Lecture 1 B

Solutions, Suspension and

Colloidal System

Solutions
It is a common observation that when a little sugars or salt is

dissolved in water a homogeneous and stable mixture of the

two components is obtained which is called as solution.
Of these two components, the one (here sugar or the salt)

which is present in small quantity is called as solute while

the other (here water) present in large quantity is called as
solvent.

Solutions
The solution is homogeneous because the

molecules or the solute become evenly distributed

throughout the solvent.

It is a stable system because the molecules or the

ions do not settle down.

Sometimes more than one molecule may be

dissolved in a solvent to form a stable and

homogeneous mixture.

the particles are not visible even under highest

power of the microscope.

Solutions

Thus, true solution may be defined as :

Homogeneous and stable mixture of two or more

chemical substances.

Solutions
Particle sizes distinguish one homogeneous mixture from

another.
Solutions are mixtures with particle sizes at the molecule or

ion level.
The particles have dimensions between 0.1 to 2 nanometers.
Typically solutions are transparent. Light can usually pass

through the solution.

If the solute is able to absorb visible light then the solution

will have a color.

A solution cannot be filtered but can be separated

using the process of distillation.

Suspensions
A suspension is a mixture between two substances,

one of which is finely divided and dispersed in the

other.
Common suspensions include sand in water, dust

in air, and droplets of oil in air.

Particles in a suspension will settle out if the

suspension is allowed to stand undisturbed.

Suspensions
Many particles of a suspension can be separated

through a filter.
Suspensions are homogeneous mixtures with particles

that have diameters greater than 1000 nm.

The size of the particles is great enough so they are

visible to the naked eye.

They do not transmit light.

Colloidal System
A colloid is intermediate between a solution and a

suspension.
The size of the colloidal particles is in between the

size of particles of true solutions and suspension.

While a suspension will separate out, a colloid will

not.

Colloidal System
There are 8 different kinds of colloidal system, one of

them (solid + liquid type) .

This type of colloidal in which the solid forms the

dispersed phase and the liquid dispersion medium,

has a fluid like consistency and is called as colloidal
solution or sol.
The particles of the dispersed phase in colloidal

solution are called as colloidal particles or sol

particles or micelles.

Colloidal System
The colloidal particles are not visible under

microscope but can be observed under an

ultramicroscope.
Types of Colloidal solutions :
a)

lyophilic (solvent loving) called emulsions,

there is an affinity between the particles of
the two phases, When water is the
dispersion medium it is called hydrophilic

b)

lyophobic (solvent hating) called

suspensions, When water is the dispersion
medium it is called hydrophobic.

Colloidal System
Colloids are mixtures with particle sizes that consist

of clumps of molecules.
The particles have dimensions between 2 to 1000

nanometers.
The colloid looks homogeneous to the naked eye.

milk is an example of colloids.

Solution

Suspension

Colloid

Appearance

Clear, transparent
and homogeneous

Cloudy,
heterogeneous, at
least two substances
visible

Cloudy but
uniform
and homogeneous

Particle Size

molecule in size
(10-7-10-8 cm)

larger than 10,000

Angstroms
(10-3-10-5 cm)

10-1000
Angstroms
(10-3-10-7 cm)

Effect of Light
Tyndall Effect

none -- light passes

through, particles
do not reflect light

variable

light is dispersed
by colloidal
particles

Effect of
None
Sedimentation

particles will
Eventually settle out

None

Visibility

Particles visible even

with naked eye

Particles visible
under
ultramicroscope

Particles non
visible even under
The ultramicroscope

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

1. Filterability
The colloidal particles are unable to pass through

parchment membrane.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

2. Adsorption and Increased
Surface Area
The colloidal particles have a

tendency to attract and retain at

their surface other particles with
which they come in contact. This is
called as adsorption.

The adsorption is increased if the

surface area of the same mass of an

adsorbent is also increased.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

2. Adsorption and Increased Surface Area
In a colloidal solution the little mass of dispersed

phase is present in the form of a large number of

small particles, thus increasing its total surface area.
The adsorption and the large surface area offered by

the colloidal particles help to carry on many complex

biochemical reaction in the protoplasm.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

3.Tyndal Effect
If a strong beam of light is passed through a colloidal
solution and viewed from the side a bluish light cone
illuminates the path of the beam.
This phenomenon is called as Tyndall effect and
results due to the scattering or diffraction of light by
the colloidal particles.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

4. Brownian Movement
Brownian movement may be used to

distinguish between solutions and colloids.

Brownian motion is the random movement of

colloidal particles suspended in a liquid or

gas, caused by interference with molecules of
the surrounding medium.
However colloid particles are large enough to

be observed and are small enough to still be

affect by the random molecular motion.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

5. Electric Properties
The colloidal particles constituting

the dispersal phase carry an electric

charge probably due to the
preferential adsorption of ions
present in the dispersion medium.
All these colloidal particles in a

particular colloidal system carry

electric charge of the same sign.
As a result, they repel each other and

remain dispersed in the dispersion

medium, and if the colloidal solution
is placed under an electric field, all
these particles move towards the
oppositely charged pole.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

5. Electric Properties
This phenomenon is called as cataphoresis or electrophoresis.

Gums, Starch etc., are some of the examples of negative sols.

While basic dyes such as methylene blue, metallic hydroxides

such as Al(OH)3 are examples of positive sols.

However, a colloidal solution is electrically neutral as a whole

because the particles of the dispersion medium have equal

electric charge of opposite sign.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

6. Coagulation or Flocculation
The precipitation of

the colloidal
particles constituting
the dispersed phase
of the colloidal
solution by the
addition of an
electrolyte is called
as coagulation or
flocculation.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

6. Coagulation or Flocculation
It is because the electric charge carried by the

particles of dispersed phase is neutralized by the

electrically charged ions resulting from the
dissociation of the electrolyte in colloidal solution.
Now these colloidal particles can no longer repel each

other.
They come close to each other due to Brownian

movements and soon settle down to gravity.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

7. Osmotic Pressure
The osmotic pressure of the colloidal solution is

usually very small.

Important Properties of Colloidal Solution

8. Dialysis
The colloidal particles are unable to pass

through parchment membrane or

collodion but true solution can pass
them.
Thus a true solution if mixed with a

colloidal solution can be separated from

the latter by filtration through such
membranes.
This method of purifying a colloidal

solution or separating a colloid from a

crystalloid by filtration through a
membrane was called as dialysis .

Colloidal Nurture of Protoplasm

Although a large number of chemical substances are found in

the protoplasm with water constituting the major portion, the

protoplasm is not a true solution.
Most of the particle phase of the protoplasm is colloidal in

nature.
Again, it is not a simple colloidal system but is considered as

complex colloidal system of many phases and shows many

properties of the colloidal system. The consistency of the
protoplasm is both of a sol and a gel type.
The cell membranes seem to be more gel-like in nature.
However, both these forms are not static but constantly

changing.

Colloidal Nurture of Protoplasm

The colloidal nature of the protoplasm is chiefly due to the

presence of protein molecules which often reach colloidal

dimensions and are distributed through it.
In fact, these macromolecules of proteins constitute next

major category of chemical substances after water in

protoplasm.
Moreover, all the enzymes are essentially proteins which

provide large surfaces due to their large and often colloidal

dimensions to catalyse most of the biochemical reactions in
the protoplasm so important for life to exit.