Suspensions

Suspensions

If a substance cannot dissolve into a liquid the substance is said to be insoluble. The resulting mixture is referred to as a suspension, as the particles are suspended in the liquid. Substances such as muddy water are an example of this. Over a period of time a suspension will settle out to form layers, called sediment. A variety of techniques are used to separate suspensions including gravity settling (sedimentation), centrifuging, chromatography and filtration.