Suspension: definition in chemistry
Suspension: A heterogeneous mixture in which particles larger than about 1,000 nanometers are spread through a liquid or gas but settle out when left to stand.
Because the particles are relatively large, a suspension looks cloudy or opaque and can be separated by filtering. Shaking or stirring spreads the particles out again, which is why some medicines are labeled shake well before use. Suspensions differ from colloids, whose smaller particles stay spread out, and from solutions, whose particles are individual molecules or ions.
Examples
- Muddy water — soil particles slowly sink to the bottom
- Milk of magnesia — magnesium hydroxide particles in water
- Flour stirred into water
- Dust kicked up into the air