What Is This Module About?

Do you often go to parties? What dishes are often served in parties?

Look closely at the picture above. On the table, you can see ice cream, jelly, gelatin, leche
flan and ube jam. These are desserts. They are all colloids. Colloids are mixtures and come in
different forms. Colloids are everywhere. We see them in foods, cosmetics and industrial
products.
This module will introduce you to colloids and their importance in your daily life.
This module is divided into three lessons. These are:
Lesson 1 — Properties of Colloids
Lesson 2 — Kinds of Colloids
Lesson 3 — Colloids in Your Body and in the Environment

Wait!

Before you proceed reading this module, be sure to have read the following modules in
chemistry: Matter 1A — Forms, Properties and Changes; Matter 1B — Forms, Properties
and Changes; and Preparation and Separation of Mixtures. A prior reading of these modules
will help you understand the topics in this module better.

1
 What Will You Learn From This Module?

After studying this module, you should be able to:

♦ differentiate a colloid from other types of mixtures;
♦ describe the properties and uses of colloids;
♦ prepare colloids; and
♦ give the importance of colloids in the environment, in medicine and technology.

Let’s See What You Already Know

Before you start studying this module find out how much you already know about the topics
to be discussed. Write True if the sentence is correct. If the sentence is not correct, change the
underlined word(s) to make it correct.
_______ 1. The ability of colloidal particles to scatter light is manifested in the Tyndall
effect.
_______ 2. Colloids appear homogeneous to the naked eye.
_______ 3. Foam is a homogeneous mixture of two liquids.
_______ 4. In a lyophilic system, the dispersed particles are not attracted to solvent
particles.
_______ 5. An emulsion is a colloidal mixture of two liquids.
_______ 6. Detergents are good wetting agents because they reduce the surface area of
water.
_______ 7. Soaps with high phosphate content pollute bodies of water.
_______ 8. A mixture of a colloid and a solution can be separated by dialysis.
_______ 9. Colloidal particles are smaller than solute particles.
_______10. Colloids are classified according to the phases of their components.

Well, how was it? Do you think you fared well? Compare your answers with those in the
Answer Key on page 34.
If all your answers are correct, very good! This shows that you already know much about
the topics in this module. You may still study the module to review what you already know. Who
knows, you might learn a few more new things as well.
If you got a low score, don’t feel bad. This means that this module is for you. It will help you
understand some important concepts that you can apply in your daily life. If you study this module
carefully, you would learn the answers to all the items in the test and a lot more! Are you ready?
You may go now to the next page and begin Lesson 1.

2
 LESSON 1

Properties of Colloids

Look closely at the picture above. Do you see a beam of light coming out from between the
clouds? Have you seen this before? This happens when it is cloudy and rays of sunlight come
through the clouds. Dust particles in the air spread the rays and allow us to see the light. The
same thing happens when car lights are on at night. You see dust particles dancing in the beam of
light.
Have you seen people wearing gas masks? Gas masks contain colloidal carbon that absorbs
poisonous gas. The same principle applies to the practice of putting charcoal inside the
refrigerator. In this lesson you will discover why beams of light behave as described above. You
will also learn why it is good to put charcoal inside your refrigerator. You will learn many
interesting things about colloids, so read on.

3
 Let’s Try This

You learned about matter in the previous chemistry modules. Matter may be either a
substance or a mixture. A colloid is a kind of mixture. How are colloids different from other kinds
of mixtures? Work on the activity below to answer this question.
Prepare the following materials:
3 clear glasses bottled water
2 cups or any containers starch
clean rock salt flashlight

flashlight

flashlight

What is the difference between a solution and a colloid?

A. Cooking the Starch

1. Get ½ teaspoon of starch and place it in one of the cups or containers.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of water and mix. Set aside.
3. Heat a cup of water in a saucepan.
4. When the water starts to boil, pour the starch-water mixture into it, stirring
constantly.
B. Preparing the Mixture
1. Fill about half of each of the three glasses with bottled water.
2. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in the first glass. This is a solution. Set aside.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of the cooked starch to the second glass. Mix well. This mixture
is a colloid.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of uncooked starch to the third glass. This mixture is a
suspension or coarse mixture.
5. Compare the three mixtures by filling out the table on page 5.

4
 C. Tyndall Effect
1. Go to a room and turn off all the lights.
2. Focus the flashlight onto each of the three glasses, as shown in the picture on the
previous page.
3. Observe the path of the rays of light in each glass. Write your observations in the
table below.

Mixture Homogeneous or
Number
Heterogeneous?
Phases

Salt in water
(solution)

Cooked starch
(colloid)

Uncooked starch
(coarse m ixture)

*Write 1 if you see that the mixture has a uniform appearance and 2 if solid particles
separate from the liquid.

Let’s Think About This

1. Which of the three mixtures is/are homogeneous (has uniform characteristics

throughout)? Which is/are heterogeneous?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which of the mixtures is/are clear and transparent?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Which has fine particles that did not settle to the bottom? Did you see these particles
with your naked eye? ________ Did you see these particles with a beam of light?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

5
 4. Which has big particles that settled to the bottom of the glass?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Which of the mixtures showed Tyndall effect?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 34 of this module.

Let’s Learn

What is a colloid? What makes it different from other kinds of mixtures? The activity on
pages 4 and 5 showed you the difference between a colloid and other types of mixtures. Only the
particles of a colloid have the ability to scatter light. This ability is manifested as the Tyndall effect.

A colloid is a mixture of suspended particles in a medium which exhibits Tyndall effect.

The suspended particles in a colloid are called dispersed particles. The substance where
the particles are suspended is called dispersion medium. For example, in colloidal starch, the
starch is the dispersed particle and the water is the dispersion medium. Another example is air
which is made up of dust particles dispersed in gas.
The following properties distinguish colloids from other types of mixtures:
♦ Size and surface area
♦ Adsorption
♦ Brownian movement
♦ Electric charge
♦ Tyndall effect

Size and Surface Area

In the study of colloids, we are more concerned with the size of the dispersed particles. A
colloid is a system where particle size ranges between 1 and 100 millimicrons (mµ).

1.0 mµ = 1.0 millimeter (mm) divided by 1 000 000

1 mµ = 0.000001 mm

6
 The size of the particles of a colloid is between the particle size of a solution (less than 1
mm) and that of a coarse mixture (more than 100 mm).
Colloids have a big surface area because they consist of many tiny particles. Look at the
cube in the picture below. The cube measures 1 cm on each side. Its volume, therefore, is 1 cubic
centimeter (cm3) and its surface area is six square centimeters (cm2).
How was I able to come up with those values?
Can you recall how to find the volume of a cube? How about the formula for finding the
surface area of a cube? The equations below will help you find the volume and surface area.
Volume = length × width × height
= 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm
= 1.0 cubic cm
= 1.0 cm3
Surface area = length × width × number of faces or sides
(Note: A cube has 6 sides)
= 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm × 6
= 6.0 square cm
= 6.0 cm2

Ý
Ý
1 cm Ý
Ý cm
1

Volume = 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm = 1 cm 3
Ý

Surface Area = 1 × w × 6 faces = 1 cm × 1 cm × 6 faces

1 cm = 6 cm 2
Ý

A cube

Dividing the cube into two, we now have two rectangular boxes with different
measurements. Each box has two different sizes of faces or sides. See the computations
below.
cm Volume (of each box) = 0.5 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm = 0.5 cm 3
1
0.5 cm 0.5 cm
Total Volume = 0.5 cm 3 × 2 boxes = 1.0 cm 3
Surface Area (big) = 1 cm × 1 cm × 2 faces × 2 boxes
1 cm
1 cm

= 4 cm 2
Surface Area (small) = 0.5 cm × 1 cm × 4 faces × 2 boxes
cm = 4 cm 2
1
box 1 box 2 Total Surface area = 4 cm 2 + 4 cm 2 = 8 cm 2

7
 If we cut the cube in half, the volume is the same but the surface area is now 8 cm2. Cutting
it further into two will increase the surface area to 10 cm2. As the sizes of the sections decrease,
the surface area increases. By the time the particles reach colloidal size, the surface area is about
60 000 000 cm2. This big surface area gives colloids one of their most important properties —
adsorption.
Adsorption
As was mentioned earlier, an increase in surface area increases the ability of a colloid to
adsorb particles. What does adsorption mean?

Adsorption is the ability of a colloid to hold substances on its surface.

Colloidal charcoal is used in gas masks. It selectively adsorbs substances such as poisonous
gases from the air. It does not adsorb ordinary gases like oxygen. Charcoal is placed in a
refrigerator to adsorb the odor. The gaseous molecules responsible for the odor cling to the
surface of the charcoal. Animal charcoal is used to adsorb coloring matter from brown sugar in
refining the sugar into white sugar.
When you open some medicine bottles containing tablets or capsules, you find an amount of
silica gel wrapped in paper or thin cloth. The silica gel is another adsorbent. Another substance,
Fuller’s earth, adsorbs coloring matter from corn oil. Adsorption is different from absorption.
Absorption takes place when a substance is taken up by substance. An example is water being
absorbed by a sponge.
Did you know that colloids, because of their adsorbing quality, are widely used in medicine?
Examples of such colloids are charcoal tablets that are taken to aid indigestion and kaolin, a
substance taken to treat diarrhea.

Brownian Movement
When colloidal particles are observed under a powerful
microscope such as an electron microscope, the particles
seem to move in a haphazard manner. This motion is called
Brownian movement. See the picture on the right. The
arrows point to the random directions in which colloidal t
particles move. The phenomenon was named after the t t
t

scientist Robert Brown, who first recorded this observation.

How did he explain this?
The zigzag motion of colloidal particles is not due to the
colloidal particles themselves. Rather, it is due to their
collisions with the molecules of the dispersion medium. The Brownian Movement
dispersion particles are in continuous irregular motion. When
they hit the colloidal particles, they too move in Brownian motion.

Brownian movement is the haphazard irregular motion of particles in a colloid.

8
Electric Charge
Almost all colloids have electric charges. A colloid has either a positive or negative charge.
Why is this so?
Colloids adsorb ions or charged particles on their surface. If they adsorb negative ions, they
become negatively charged. If they adsorb positive ions, they become positively charged.
Do you wonder why colloidal particles are suspended and do not settle to the bottom of the
container? Let us imagine two negatively charged colloidal particles. What would happen if they
come close together? They would repel each other because they are both negatively charged.
Hence, they are prevented from joining together and forming bigger particles that are heavy
enough to settle to the bottom.
A good application of this property of colloids is in removing poison from the stomach.
Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) is a poisonous substance. When taken in, it forms a positive colloid in
the stomach. As a remedy, the patient is given egg white, which is a negative colloid. The
oppositely charged particles will coagulate and form bigger particles. The coagulated material is
then pumped out of the stomach.

How do you know if a colloid has a negative

or a positive charge? Easy! Remember that
opposite charges attract each other. A colloid is
placed in a U tube containing two electrodes.
When electric current is passed through the U
tube, each electrode will attract particles of
opposite charge. The migration of charged
colloidal particles through a solution under the
influence of an applied electric field is called
electrophoresis.

Electrophoresis

Tyndall Effect
Do you see beams of sunlight coming out of the holes in the roof of your house? You see
dust particles in these beams of light. The presence of dust in the air makes the sun’s rays visible.
The scattering effect of colloidal particles is called Tyndall effect.
Tyndall effect occurs because as the beam of light passes through the colloid, the minute
particles suspended in the medium scatter the light rays that fall on them. Thus, the entire path of
the rays through the colloid becomes visible, having the appearance of a bright core.

The Tyndall effect is a phenomenon shown by a colloid when a beam of light is passed
through it.

9
 Tyndall effect

flashlight

Colloid Solution Coarse mixture

The Tyndall effect is seen only in a colloid.

When you look at the air (of course you don’t see it), it seems so clean. You do not see
anything. The dust particles in air are of course colloidal in size. One way to check for air
pollution is to allow a beam of light to pass through the air at night. The more dancing particles
you see, the more polluted your surroundings are.

Let’s Try This

Name examples of colloids.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 35 of this module.

10
 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Match the items in Column A with those in Column B. Write the letters on the lines before
the numbers.
A B
____ 1. A property of colloids that helps remove a. Tyndall effect
poisonous gas from air
b. Surface area
____ 2. Particularly large in colloids because of
c. Adsorption
their tiny particles
d. Electric charges
____ 3. The random movement of colloidal particles
e. Brownian movement
____ 4. Allows us to see colloidal particles
f. Electrophoresis
____ 5. Acquired by colloids when ions
are adsorbed on their surface g. Dispersion medium
____ 6. Having one phase h. Homogeneous
____ 7. Suspended matter in a colloid i. Dispersed particles
____ 8. Unit of particle size j. Millimicron
____ 9. Material where colloidal particles are
suspended
____10. Movement of charged particles toward
an oppositely charged electrode

Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 35 of this module. Did
you get a perfect score? If you did, that’s very good. Keep up the good work! You may now
proceed to the next lesson. If you did not get everything right, that’s alright. Just review the parts
you missed before moving on to Lesson 2.

11
Let’s Remember

♦ A colloid is a mixture of suspended particles in a medium that appears to be

homogeneous.
♦ The suspended particles in a colloid are called dispersed particles.
♦ The substance where colloidal particles are suspended is called dispersion medium.
♦ The size of colloidal particles ranges between that of solution particles (less than 1 mm)
and that of coarse mixture particles (more than 100 mm).
♦ Adsorption refers to the ability of colloidal particles to hold substances on their
surface.
♦ Brownian movement is the rapid, random, zigzag motion of colloidal particles.
♦ Electrophoresis is the movement of electrically charged dispersed particles toward an
oppositely charged electrode.
♦ Tyndall effect is a phenomenon shown by a colloid when a beam of light is passed
through it.

12
 LESSON 2

Kinds of Colloids

Look at the picture above. These are things you use every day. You drink milk or chocolate
at breakfast. You spread jelly, butter or mayonnaise on your bread. You probably enjoy eating ice
cream as well. You use an insecticide aerosol to kill pests. You use an air freshener to make a
room smell fresh. You put paint on walls and other structures to make them beautiful and durable.
All the things you see in the picture are different kinds of colloids.
This lesson will help you identify and decide the different kinds of colloids. You will also
learn how to prepare some common colloids. Are you ready to learn more? Read on.

Let’s Learn

Grouping of Colloids

Colloids are everywhere. We have colloids inside our bodies and in our environment.
Because of the huge number of colloids, we classify them according to the phases of their
components.
As you will recall from Lesson 1, a colloid has two components — the dispersed substance
and the dispersion medium. Do you recall the three phases of matter? Matter may be solid, liquid
or gas. The components of a colloid may be any combination of these three phases.

13
 Latex paint, for example, is a colloid whose dispersed substance is a solid (color powder)
and dispersion medium is a liquid (water). In an air freshener, the dispersed substance is a liquid
while the dispersion medium is a gas.
Take a look at the following table.
Types of Colloids

Type Example Disper

Medi
Aerosol Insecticide spray Gas (air)
(liquid in gas) Clouds Gas (air)

Solid aerosol Smoke Gas (air)

(solid in gas)
Foam Meringue Liquid (egg
(gas in liquid)
Emulsion Milk Liquid (wate
(liquid in liquid)
Sol Paste Solid (flour)
(solid in liquid)
Solid foam Bread dough Solid (flour)
(gas in solid)
Gel Peanut butter Solid (pean
(liquid in solid)
Solid sol Porcelain Solid
(solid in solid)

Can you name other examples of colloids and classify these based on what you read in the
table?

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials:

stove spray bottle
toaster or oven fork
3 eggs sugar
steamer water
starch mixing bowl
½ cup condensed milk metal mold or liyanera
½ cup evaporated milk

14
 Cover

Liyanera

Small Metal Water

can sheet
3 tall cans
Metal sheet with holes
with holes
Stove Stove

An improvised oven An improvised steamer

A. Meringue
1. Crack the eggs carefully and separate the egg whites from the eggyolks.
2. Set aside the yolks for procedure C.
3. Beat the egg white vigorously in a mixing bowl to allow air to mix with it. Do this
until the bubbles rise to about three times the original volume of the mixture.
4. Slowly add the ½ cup of white sugar. Continue beating till the mixture is stiff.
5. Scoop the mixture little by little with a spoon and place on a slightly greased pan
(wiped with a little oil).
6. Place in an oven or toaster or in the improvised oven as shown in the picture
above. Leave for about 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven. Get one piece and cut into two. Observe the appearance
of the meringue.
Answer the following questions:
a. What did you put in when you beat the egg whites?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. What substances are mixed in making meringue?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. Name the phases of the components of meringue.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

15
B. Air Spray
1. Fill the spray bottle with water.
2. Squeeze the nozzle to spray the liquid into the air.
3. Observe the liquid in the air after some time.
Answer the following questions:
a. Can you still recognize the water in the air?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. Name the phase of each component.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
C. Leche flan
1. Put 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in the liyanera or mold. Add 1 tablespoon of
water. Heat over a flame until the mixture boils. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix thoroughly 6 eggyolks, 1 cup condensed milk and 1 cup evaporated milk.
3. Strain with a cheesecloth or katsa to remove solid particles.
4. Pour the mixture into the mold and place a transparent, thin plastic sheet over the
mold. The plastic cover will keep the steam from going into the mixture.
5. Place the mixture in a steamer with boiling water at the bottom. You may use the
improvised steamer shown in the picture on page 15.
6. After 15 minutes, test the leche flan with a toothpick or matchstick. It is already
cooked when the mixture does not stick to the toothpick.
Answer the following questions:
a. Which are the dispersed substances in the leche flan?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. Which is the dispersing medium?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. What are the phases of the components?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 35.

16
 Let’s Learn

Did you enjoy the activity that you have just performed? Meringue is an example of a solid
foam while the air spray is an aerosol. Leche flan, on the other hand, is a sol. Can you tell why?
Try naming and classifying the phases and the components of each colloid.
Do you recall the names of colloids whose dispersion medium is a liquid? These are liquid
foam (gas in liquid), emulsion (liquid in liquid) and sol (solid in liquid). We can also classify these
colloids into three — lyophilic, lyophobic and association colloids.
In lyophilic colloids, there is a strong attraction between the dispersed particles and the
dispersion medium. Lyophilic comes from a pair of Greek words that mean “solvent-loving.”
When the dispersion medium is water, the particles are called hydrophilic. Can you think of
examples of lyophilic colloids? You can tell if a colloid is lyophilic because it is stable, that is, its
particles do not tend to coagulate or join together to form bigger particles. Many animal and plant
fluids, such as blood and gums, are lyophilic colloids.
In lyophobic colloids, the particles have little attraction for the dispersion medium. If the
dispersion medium is water, the particles are said to be hydrophobic. Can you guess what
lyophobic means? It means “solvent-hating.” The dispersed particles of a lyophobic colloid tend
to coagulate and hence form bigger particles. The system is made more stable by adding a
dispersant, a substance that decreases the tendency of the dispersed particles to coagulate.
Many inks are lyophobic colloids — the pigments that give colors to the inks have little attraction
for the liquid in which they are dispersed. Hence, dispersants are added to inks to prevent the
pigments from coagulating.
In association colloids, the dispersed particles are large molecules that have both lyophilic
and lyophobic parts. These molecules form clusters called micelles that expose their lyophilic
parts to the liquid dispersion medium and turn the lyophobic parts away from the medium.

17
 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Based on the clues written below, fill in the boxes with the appropriate words.
2 3

10

Down
1. A type of colloid formed from a gas dispersed in a liquid
2. A liquid colloid whose dispersed particles have little attraction for water
3. A colloid that has both lyophilic and lyophobic parts
6. A mixture of a liquid dispersed in gas
8. An example of a lyophilic colloid
Across
4. A substance added to a lyophobic colloid to prevent the dispersed particles from
coagulating
5. A liquid dispersed in another liquid
7. A cluster of colloidal particles in which the lyophilic particles are exposed to the
dispersion medium while the lyophobic particles are turned away
9. A liquid colloid whose particles have strong attraction for the dispersion medium
10. A liquid dispersed in a solid
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 36.

18
 Did you get everything right? If you did, that’s very good! You may proceed to the next
lesson. If you did not get everything right, don’t worry. That simply means you should study again
the parts you did not understand. Afterward, you may move on to the next lesson.

Let’s Remember

♦ Colloids are classified according to the phases of their components.

♦ A colloid may be an aerosol (liquid in gas), solid aerosol (solid in gas), foam (gas in
liquid), emulsion (liquid in liquid), sol (solid in liquid), solid foam (gas in solid), gel
(liquid in liquid) or solid sol (solid in solid).
♦ Liquid colloids may be classified further into lyophilic, lyophobic and association
colloids. Lyophilic colloids are those whose particles are strongly attracted to the
dispersion medium; lyophobic colloids are those whose particles are only weakly
attracted to the dispersion medium; and association colloids are those particles which
have both lyophilic and lyophobic parts.

19
 LESSON 3

Colloids in Your Body and in the

Environment

Look at the picture above. The man in the picture is undergoing dialysis. He has a kidney
problem. His kidneys cannot function well. The kidneys are the organs responsible for removing
wastes from the body. What do you think will happen if the waste materials in your body are not
removed?
An artificial kidney machine can take the place of the kidney. This machine can remove
impurities in the blood. This lesson will explain to you how that machine works. It will also focus
on soaps and detergents and how they affect the environment.

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials:

salt
teaspoon
cooked starch
2 drinking glasses
iodine solution or tincture of iodine
longganisa casing

20
1. Get a teaspoon of cooked starch and add a drop of iodine solution. Observe the
change in color. This is a test for the presence of carbohydrates such as starch.

2. Fill about three-fourths of one drinking glass with clean water. Taste the water and set
it aside.
a. What happened to the color of the starch when you added iodine?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. How did the water taste?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. In another drinking glass, mix 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cooked starch with
1
about glass of water.
5
4. Pour the mixture into a longganisa casing with one end tied tightly with a thread.
5. Tie the other end and check for any leak. See the picture below.

starch

salt

water

6. Wash well in running water.

7. Place the longganisa casing inside the glass of water used in step 2. Set aside until the
following day.
8. Taste again the water in the glass. Compare this with the taste of the water in step 2.
9. Get a little amount of water. Test for the presence of starch using the iodine test as you
did in step 1.
c. Did you find salt in the water where the filled casing was submerged? How did
you know it was salt?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
21
 d. Where do you think the salt came from?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

e. Did you find starch in the water using the iodine test?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

f. Which substance passed through the longganisa casing and which one did not?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 36 of this module.

Let’s Learn

What you did in the earlier activity is a simple dialysis. You placed the salt-and-starch
mixture inside a membrane, the longganisa casing. The casing allowed the salt to pass through it
but not the starch. Longganisa casing is a semipermeable membrane. So are parchment paper,
cellophane and the soft inner skin of an eggshell.

A semipermeable membrane allows the passage of small particles such as ions, small
molecules and water molecules while retaining particles of colloidal size.

In order to picture how a semipermeable membrane works, think of a sieve (bistay). If you
place stones and sand in the sieve, only the fine sand will pass through it. The large stones will
remain inside the sieve.

Can you recall what kind of a mixture starch

is? You found out in Lesson 1 that cooked starch is
a colloid. Salt mixed with water, on the other hand,
is a solution. The longganisa casing, being a
semipermeable membrane, allowed the salt
- solute particles to pass through into the water but retained
- colloid
the starch particles. Can you now explain why the
water in the glass tasted salty when you tasted it
semi- again?
permeable
membrane
The process of selectively allowing the
passage of small particles through a semipermeable
water membrane is called dialysis.
Did you know that the cell membrane that
Only the salt particles were allowed to surrounds the cell is a semipermeable membrane?
pass through the longganisa casing. Hence, the cell membranes in your body allow
ions, small molecules and water to pass through but
retain colloids such as blood.
22
 The process of dialysis has many applications. It can be used to remove impurities from
substances. For example, in the purification of colloidal antitoxins, the impure extracted material is
placed inside a semipermeable membrane which is then placed in running water. Impurities flow
out of the membrane into the water, leaving behind the pure antitoxin.
Dialysis is also used in the preparation of low-sodium milk. Many people prefer to drink
milk with low salt content because it is more healthful to do so. Sodium is one of the components
of table salt. The milk is placed in a semipermeable membrane suspended in running water. The
salt particles flow out of the membrane and leave the milk behind.

Hemodialysis
As was mentioned in the beginning of this lesson, dialysis has a very important application in
medicine. A kidney machine is used to remove waste products and toxins (poisonous substances)
from the blood. The process is called hemodialysis. A kidney machine consists of a long coiled
cellophane tube. This tube is where the patient’s blood is circulated. This tube is dipped in a
constant-temperature water solution called the dialyzing solution. The chemical composition of
the solution is carefully regulated according to the needs of the patient. The solution also has the
same salt content as normal blood.

Dialyzed blood
s

Filter
s
s

s
Pump
s
Cellophane membrane
s

Fresh dialyzing solution

isotonic with normal blood

A kidney machine

The blood is then pumped through the coil. The soluble end products of protein catabolism
(changing of tissues to waste materials), water and poisonous substances in the body are
removed from the blood. The blood cells and plasma proteins remain in the blood.

23
 Let’s Study and Analyze

Cleaning Action of Soap and Detergent

Why do you think soap and detergent can remove dirt from various objects? The following
box contains the basic chemical formulas of soaps and detergents.

A soap molecule:
C17H35COO–Na+
A detergent molecule:
C12H25OSO2O–Na+

C – carbon
H – hydrogen
O – oxygen
Na – sodium

Look closely at each formula. Each shows that the substance has a polar end. When a
substance has a polar end, it has a negative and a positive part.
1. What is the polar end of the soap molecule?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the polar end of the detergent molecule?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those found in the Answer Key on page 37.
A soap molecule has both a polar and a nonpolar end. Its nonpolar end is the hydrocarbon
part (C 17 H33 –) and its polar end is the salt part (–COO–Na+).
A detergent molecule also has a polar end and a nonpolar end. Its nonpolar end is also a
hydrocarbon, (C12H25—) and its polar end, a salt (–OSO2O–Na+).

Soap
C17H35——COO–Na+
(nonpolar end) (polar end)
Detergent
C12H25——OSO2O–Na+
(nonpolar end) (polar end)

24
 When water and oil are shaken together, a milky solution is formed. After a while, the two
components separate. However, when soap solution is added before the mixture is shaken, a
more stable emulsion is formed. Oil and water make up a hydrophobic colloid. That’s because oil
is nonpolar while water is polar. Nonpolar substances dissolve only in nonpolar substances; polar
substances dissolve in polar substances.
Soap is able to stabilize the mixture because it has both a nonpolar and a polar end. Look at
the following diagram.
H
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

H
C C C C C C C C C O

C
C C C C C C C C O Na
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

Hydrophobic tail (nonpolar end) Hydrophilic

tail (polar end)

A soap molecule has a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail.

The polar end of the soap molecule is attracted to the water molecules; the nonpolar end of
the soap molecule is attracted to oil. The soap is thus able to bring the water and oil molecules
together and stabilize the colloidal system.
Because of its stabilizing property, soap is an effective dirt remover. Let’s follow the action
of a group of soap molecules. Each soap molecule would look like this:

Head

Tail

Imagine yourself washing a piece of dirty fabric. What do you do first? You place the fabric
in a basin of water and add soap to it.

Water Grease or dirt

Fabric

25
 This is what happens when the soap molecules are added to the water:

soap
molecules

The soap molecules arrange themselves in such a way that the hydrophobic (nonpolar) tails
are facing the dirt to which they are attracted.

The soap molecules surround the dirt and the tails attach themselves to the dirt. The
molecules are able to hold the dirt in clusters in this manner. These clusters help to suspend the
dirt in water and prevent it from settling back into the fabric.

26
 Let’s Think About This

Based on their action in water and on grease, what kind of a colloid do soaps and
detergents form in water? Write your answer on the lines.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Compare your answer with the Answer Key on page 37.

Let’s Learn

Another characteristic of soaps and detergents that makes them effective dirt removers is
their ability to lower the surface tension of water. Do you know what surface tension is?
Each water molecule is made up of an oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. Water
molecules are very strongly attracted to one another. The hydrogen atoms of one water molecule
are attracted to the oxygen atoms of other water molecules. This forms strong connections
between the molecules. This type of bonding is called hydrogen bonding. When you put water
in a container, the water molecules under the surface are pulled in all directions. Those on the
surface are exposed to the air and form bonds with the water molecules in the air (water vapor).
Since the water molecules in the air are very far apart, the bonds they form with the molecules on
the surface of the water are weak. Thus, the surface water molecules are pulled only to the sides
and downward. This pull creates a film or skin called surface tension.
You can see surface tension in water by
placing a drop of water on a level surface. You
will see that the bead of water does not spread;
instead, it holds its shape. Water thus tends to
cluster in beads and does not “wet” objects
easily. This is a disadvantage especially when
you’re washing and cleaning objects.
How do soap and detergent molecules
lower surface tension? Remember that soap and
detergent molecules have both hydrophobic tails
and hydrophilic heads. The hydrophilic heads water
are attracted to the water molecules and make
room for the larger tails. This tends to push the
water molecules apart and hence weaken the Surface tension
bonds between the molecules. This lowers the
surface tension of the water and allows the soap
solution of water to become “wetter” and penetrate deeper into the fibers of the fabric.
Why do many people prefer to use detergents over soap? Work on the activity on the next
page.

27
 Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials:

2 drinking cups
bath soap
detergent powder
deep well water
tap water
1. Scrape the bath soap with a spoon or
knife to produce smaller particles.
2. Place equal amounts of deep well water
in two cups.
3. To one cup add 1 teaspoon of detergent
and to the other cup 1 teaspoon of bath
soap.
4. Mix both to lather.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 using tap water in
place of the deep well water.

Let’s Think About This

1. Which produced more lather in deep well water, the bath soap or the detergent?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Which produced tiny white particles that separated from the deep well water?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. Which produced more lather in tap water?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. Which produced tiny white particles that separated from the liquid in tap water?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. Which do you think cleans better, soap or detergent? Why?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

28
 Let’s Learn

Both soaps and detergents can clean objects well. However, this ability is hampered in the
presence of hard water. Hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions. Hard water usually
comes from underneath the ground. Hence, water taken from wells is hard water.
Soft water, on the other hand, is that which usually comes from bodies of water, such as
rivers and lakes. Hard water has the same uses as soft water — you can use it to water plants or
put out a fire or even swim in. However, using hard water for bathing, washing and cleaning may
be a problem, especially if you’re using soap. Soap reacts with the ions in hard water to form a
precipitate, a solid material that settles out. This is the white material that did not dissolve in the
deep well water when you put soap in it. This precipitate is what we call scum that forms on all
surfaces and leaves spots on your dishes.
Detergent, on the other hand, can work well with hard water because it contains chemicals
that react with the ions in hard water and form soluble substances. Hence, no scum is formed
when you wash with detergent in hard water.
However, detergent contains trisodium phosphate, which is a known water pollutant.
Phosphates are fertilizers and when deposited into bodies of water, they cause algal bloom. This
means that underwater plants multiply to the point that they begin robbing other organisms in the
water of their much-needed nutrients. Algal bloom also speeds up the process of
eutrophication, or the death of a lake.
Can you think of ways by which you can help minimize pollution caused by detergents? You
can do so by using your wash water for watering plants. This way, the phosphates go into the soil
and not into bodies of water where they can cause harm.

Let’s See What You Have Learned

Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which will not pass through a semipermeable membrane?
a. sugar solution
b. salt solution
c. water
d. cream
2. Which of the following statements best describes dialysis?
a. It makes a patient well.
b. It separates solute particles from colloids.
c. It sieves or screens the particles of a mixture.
d. It filters the particles of a coarse mixture.

29
3. Which is not a semipermeable membrane?
a. cellophane
b. longganisa casing
c. parchment paper
d. filter paper
4. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. Hemodialysis separates impurities from the blood.
b. Dialysis separates the red blood corpuscles from white blood corpuscles.
c. Hemodialysis takes the place of the kidney.
d. Dialysis makes oil particles combine with water molecules.
5. Which of the following makes detergent a pollutant?
a. good wetting effect
b. ability to lower the surface tension of water
c. high phosphate content
d. poisonous effect on fishes
6. It is a characteristic of liquids that is caused by the uneven forces pulling the liquid
molecules.
a. surface area
b. surface tension
c. gravity
d. weight
7. Soap makes oil and water combine to form a _____________ colloid.
a. lyophilic
b. lyophobic
c. hydrophobic
d. hydrophilic
8. Detergents are more effective dirt removers than soaps because ______________.
a. they are environment-friendly
b. they do not form scum in hard water
c. they cause algal bloom
d. all of the above
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 37.

30
 Let’s Remember

♦ Dialysis is the process of selectively allowing the passage of small particles through a
semipermeable membrane while retaining colloidal particles.
♦ The process of removing waste products and antitoxins from the blood through the use
of a kidney machine is called hemodialysis.
♦ Soaps and detergents are effective dirt removers because they have a lyophilic head
and a lyophobic tail.
♦ Detergents are more effective than soaps but they contain a large amount of phosphate
that causes water pollution.
You have now reached the end of the module. Congratulations! Did you enjoy reading the
module? Did you learn a lot from it? The following is a summary of its main points to help you
remember them better.

Let’s Sum Up

This module tells us that:

♦ A colloid contains particles that are bigger than those of a solution but smaller than
those of a suspension or coarse mixture. It exhibits the Tyndall effect, adsorption,
Brownian movement and carry electrical charges.
♦ Colloids are classified according to the phases of their components. Liquid colloids can
be lyophilic, lyophobic or association colloids.
♦ Colloidal particles can be separated from solute particles through dialysis.
♦ Soaps and detergents are association colloids that are effective dirt removers.

31
 What Have You Learned?

A. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. In which of the following would you expect to see a Tyndall beam?
a. cooked rice
b. pineapple juice
c. halo-halo
d. gelatin
2. Charcoal is commonly placed inside a refrigerator to remove unpleasant odors
from the refrigerator. This use of charcoal is based on a colloidal property called
______________.
a. Brownian movement
b. adsorption
c. electric charge
d. Tyndall effect
3. Which of the following is an emulsion?
a. mayonnaise
b. meringue
c. paint
d. jelly
4. Which does not belong to the group?
a. cheese
b. gelatin
c. butter
d. margarine
5. In association colloids, the colloidal particles form clusters called
____________.
a. micelles
b. surface tension
c. hydrogen bonding
d. semipermeable membrane
B. Classify the following colloids. Write your answers on the lines.
__________________ 1. mayonnaise
__________________ 2. colored glass
__________________ 3. butter
__________________ 4. hot chocolate
__________________ 5. cloud

32
 __________________ 6. smoke
__________________ 7. hair spray
__________________ 8. blood
__________________ 9. marshmallow
__________________10. cheese
C. Describe how a kidney machine works.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on pages 37 and 38.
If you got a score of:
0–5 You should study the whole module again.
6–10 Good! Just review the items you missed.
11–16 Very good! That means you understood the module well. I salute your
persistence and willingness to learn.

33
 Answer Key

A. Let’s See What You Already Know (pages 2–3)

1. True
2. True
3. Emulsion
4. lyophobic
5. True
6. tension
7. True
8. True
9. bigger
10. True

B. Lesson 1
Let’s Try This (pages 4–5)

Mixture Homogeneous or
Number
Heterogeneous?
Phases

Salt in water hom ogeneous 1

(solution)

Cooked starch hom ogeneous 1

(colloid)

Uncooked starch heterogeneous 2

(coarse m ixture)

Let’s Think About This (pages 5–6)

(Answers may vary according to the learners’ observations. The following ,
however, are the expected answers.)
1. The solution and colloid appeared homogeneous while the coarse mixture
was heterogeneous.
2. The solution is clear and transparent.
3. The colloid has particles that did not settle. I did not see the particles with
the naked eye. I saw the particles with the beam of light.
4. The coarse mixture has big particles.
5. The colloid showed Tyndall effect.

34
 Let’s Try This (page 10)
(Answers will vary.)
Some examples of colloids are paints, medicine, milk, cream, and blood.
Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 11)
1. c
2. b
3. e
4. a
5. d
6. h
7. i
8. j
9. g
10. f

C. Lesson 2
Let’s Try This (pages 14–16)
A. a. I put in air into the egg whites when I beat them.
b. Egg white and air are mixed in making meringue.
c. Egg white is a liquid and air is a gas.
B. a. No, I could hardly see the water in the air.
b. Water is a liquid and air is a gas.
C. a. The sugar (in condensed milk) and the eggyolks are the dispersed materials.
b. Water and milk make up the dispersing medium.
c. Sugar is a solid; eggyolk, milk and water are liquids.

35
 Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 18)

2 3
H A
1
F Y S
4
O D I S P E R S A N T

A R O
5
E M U L S I O N C

P I

H A

O T

B I
6
I A O
7
M I C E L L E N
8
R B
9
L Y O P H I L I C

S O

O O
10
G E L D

D. Lesson 3
Let’s Try This (pages 20–22)
a. It turned black.
b. The water had no taste.
c. Yes. The water tasted salty.
d. The salt came from inside the longganisa casing.
e. No.
f. The salt passed through the membrane; the cooked starch did not.

36
 Let’s Study and Analyze (pages 23–26)
1. The polar end of a soap is COO-Na+.
2. The polar end of a detergent is OSO2-Na+.
Let’s Think About This (page 27)
Soaps and detergents form association colloids in water.
Let’s Think About This (page 28)
1. The detergent produced more lather in the deep well water.
2. The soap produced white particles.
3. The soap and detergent produced just about the same amounts of lather in
tap water.
4. Neither the soap nor the detergent produced any white particles in the tap
water.
5. Detergent cleans better than soap because it produces more lather in deep
well water and does not form a white precipitate both in deep well and tap
water.
Let’s See What You Have Learned (pages 29–31)
1. d Options (a) and (b) are solutions and their solute particles can pass through
all membranes while (c) is a solvent which can pass through any membrane;
(d), on the other hand, is a colloid and thus it cannot pass through a
semipermeable membrane.
2. b
3. d
4. a
5. c A detergent has phosphates that cause algal bloom.
6. b
7. c
8. b

E. What Have You Learned? (pages 32–33)

A. 1. d
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. a

B. 1. emulsion
2. solid sol
3. gel
4. sol
5. liquid aerosol

37
 6. solid aerosol
7. liquid aerosol
8. emulsion
9. solid foam
10. gel
C. (The answer may be stated in different ways. The following is a sample answer.)
A kidney machine is made up of a long cellophane tube in which the
patient’s blood is circulated. The tube is dipped in a constant-temperature water
solution called the dialyzing solution. The patient’s blood is pumped through the
coil. The soluble waste materials are removed from the blood while the blood
cells and plasma are left behind. After passing through the coil, the dialyzed blood
is returned to the patient’s body.

Glossary

Absorption The process of taking something in through spaces or pores

Adsorption The ability of a substance to physically hold another substance on its surface
Antitoxin A substance that can counter the effects of a poisonous substance
Brownian movement The haphazard motion of particles when suspended in a fluid;
exhibited by colloidal particles
Cellophane A thin, flexible material made from wood pulp and used as wrapping
Coagulate To cause the transformation of a liquid or solid into a clot or as if into a soft,
semisolid or solid mass
Colloid A mixture having particles that are larger than those of a solution. Colloidal
particles scatter light and pass through a filter paper but not through a semipermeable
membrane
Detergent A cleaning material that acts similarly to soap but is made from chemicals
instead of fats and lye
Dialysis The separation of solute particles from colloidal particles by passage through a
semipermeable membrane
Dispersant A liquid or gas added to a colloid in order to maintain the dispersed particles
in suspension
Dispersion medium The substance in which colloidal particles are suspended
Dispersed particles The suspended particles in a colloid
Electrophoresis The migration of charged colloidal particles through a solution under the
influence of an applied electric field usually provided by immersed electrodes
Eutrophication The aging of a lake brought on by the enrichment of the plants found in the
lake

38
Fat An organic compound made up of fatty acids; solidified animal or vegetable oil
Hard water Water that contains salts of calcium and magnesium, usually comes from
beneath the ground
Heterogeneous Consisting of dissimilar elements; when referring to a mixture, this means
that the individual substances in the mixture remain essentially as they were before they
were mixed
Homogeneous Uniform in structure or composition all throughout; when used to refer to a
mixture, the mixture is one in which one of the individual substances changes in form as
in a solution of salt in water
Hydrogen bonding Occurs when hydrogen is bonded to electron-attracting atoms such as
oxygen, fluorine and nitrogen
Ion An atom with an electric charge; may be positive or negative
Lye Sodium hydroxide; an alkaline compound
Lyophilic Characterized by a strong attraction between the dispersed particles and the
dispersion medium in a colloid
Lyophobic Characterized by a lack of attraction between the dispersed particles and the
dispersion medium in a colloid
Micelle A very tiny cluster of molecules in a colloid
Molecule The smallest particle of a substance that retains the chemical and physical
properties of the substance and is composed of two or more atoms held together by
chemical bonds
Nonpolar Neutral; having equal amounts of positive and negative charges
Parchment Paper that has the same texture as the skin of a sheep or goat
Phase Any form in which matter can exist, namely, liquid, solid and gas
Phosphate A salt of phosphoric acid; used mainly as a fertilizer
Polar Having excess electric charges
Semipermeable membrane A membrane that allows some materials to pass through
while retaining some materials
Soap A cleansing agent made from a mixture of the sodium salts of various fats
Soft water Water that comes from the surface waters such as rivers and lakes
Solute The substance that dissolved in a solution
Solution A homogeneous mixture of two or more substances
Surface area Measurement of the size of a surface region, usually expressed in square
units

39
Surface tension The property of a liquid that tends to draw the surface molecules into the
body of the liquid; caused by unbalanced forces acting on the surface molecules,
creating a membrane-like film coating on the surface of the liquid
Suspension A coarse mixture in which the particles are large enough to settle out or be
retained
Toxin A poisonous substance
Tyndall effect The scattering of light, a characteristic exhibited by colloids
Volume The amount of space occupied by an object having the dimensions length, width
and thickness

References

“Colloids.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press,
2001. www.bartleby.com/65/. February 9, 2001, date accessed.
Keenan, Charles W., and Jesse H. Wood. General College Chemistry. 3rd ed. Tennessee:
Harper International, Inc., 1970.
Mendoza, Estrella E., and Teresita F. Religioso. You and the Natural World Series:
Chemistry. 2nd ed., Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 1997.

40
41
42
43