What is the example of a mixture, solution, suspension, and colloid?
Mixture is a combination of two or more different particles that do not react one another. For example salt and sugar. Solution is a homogeneous mixture in which one substance (the solute) is dissolved in another substance (the solvent). Example: sugary water (water as the solvent plus sugar as the solute produces the solution of sugary water). Suspension is a heterogeneous mixture in which the particles are large enough to be seen by a microscope or the unaided eye (eventually, they settle out of the mixture). Example: stirring a teaspoon of sand in a glass of water. Colloid is a mixture where the size of particles in the mixture is between those of a solution and a suspension, typically between 0.0001 micron and 1 micron (1 micron is 0.001 millimeter). These particles appear evenly distributed. Examples: egg white, cheese, butter, jellies, whipped cream. For more information check out “Gas, Liquids and Solids – The Structure of Matter” by Edward Goo, University of Southern California
