COLLOID

Colloid

A colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed throughout another substance. The dispersed-phase particles have a diameter of between approximately 1 and 1000 nanometers. Such particles are normally invisible in an optical microscope, though their presence can be confirmed with the use of an ultramicroscope or an electron microscope. Homogeneous mixtures with a dispersed phase in this size range may be called colloidal aerosols, colloidal emulsions, colloidal foams, colloidal dispersions, or hydrosols. The dispersed-phase particles or droplets are affected largely by the surface chemistry present in the colloid.

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colloid

Noun

  1. A stable system of two phases, one of which is dispersed in the other in the form of very small droplets or particles.
  2. 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). 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. A system of liquid or solid particles colloidally dispersed in a gas is called an aerosol. A system of solid substances or water-insoluble liquids colloidally dispersed in liquid water is called a hydrosol.
  3. A particle less than 1 micron in diameter, following the Wentworth scale

Adjective

  1. Glue-like; gelatinous.
    colloid tumours


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: colloid
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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