(Phys.org) —A colloidal suspension is a mixture in which microscopic particles of one substance are dispersed in another and because of its properties does not "settle" in the way that one might expect a stirred mixture of sand in water to do; nor do the particles dissolve in the fluid as one might expect grains of salt to dissolve in water. Colloidal suspensions and the related gels (solid colloidal systems) are of interest because many of them have fundamentally useful properties. Natural systems such as milk, the interior of cells, even atmospheric fog are colloidal systems. Synthetic colloids exist in coatings, cosmetics, and elsewhere.
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