Suspensions

A suspension is a two-phase mixture in which a solid is dispersed or spread in a solid, liquid, or gas. A suspension is a heterogeneous mixture because its components can be distinguished from each other. Solids such as sand and clay do not completely dissolve in water. Certain condiments like pepper and parsley, when mixed in a soup, remain visible. These mixtures are examples of suspensions. The sticky mud on the road is another example of a suspension.

A suspension is composed of two substances—the dispersed material (the solute in a solution) and the dispersion medium (the solvent in a solution). The dispersed materials in a suspension are coarser or larger than the solutes in a solution. These materials are distributed in a dispersion medium, which can either be a solid, liquid, or gas.

The dispersed materials, when mixed with a dispersion medium, make the suspension turbid or unclear. For example, stirring fine pepper in a glass of water makes the suspension cloudy. If you let the suspension stand undisturbed for a while, the fine pepper can still be distinguished. These particles eventually settle at the bottom of the glass.

The dispersed materials in a suspension are not uniformly distributed in the dispersion medium. These particles are visible in the mixture. Other examples of suspensions are flour in water and sand in water.