Question

What happens when a beam of light is passed through a colloidal solution?

Answer 1

The Tyndall effect is observed when a beam of light is passed through a colloidal solution.

• A colloid is a heterogeneous mixture in which the particles cannot be seen with the naked eye.
• The diameter of the particles of colloids lies in the range of ${10}^{-6}-{10}^{-9}\mathrm{m}$.

Tyndall effect: When the particles can scatter a beam of light passing through them and make the path of light visible.

• The light is scattered when light collides with the colloidal particles and deviates from its normal straight line path.
• This scattering makes the path of the light beam visible, as illustrated below.