Explain why colloidal system exhibits tyndall effect?
The Tyndall effect is the effect of light scattering on particles in colloid systems, such as suspensions or emulsions. It is named after the 19th century Irish scientist John Tyndall. The Tyndall effect is used to tell the difference between the different types of mixtures, namely solution, colloid, and suspension.In liquids the tyndall effect can be easily seen by using a laser pointer. If you dilute milk to where it is almost clear, or if you have any type of sol, such as colloidal silver, then the beam of the laser can be easily seen as it travels through the liquid.For any particular particle size, tyndall will increase linearly with concentration (ppm). However since tyndall will increase to the third power of particle size for any given concentration, it is very difficult to use tyndall to determine concentration of a sol. Tyndall can really only be used as a go/no go test to determine if a colloid is present, not its concentration. For instance, if you have a 1 ppm sol of 10 nm particles, the tyndall will be 100 times brighter than a 10 ppm sol of 1 nm particles, instead of 1/10 as bright.
