If a pinch of flour is placed in water, does it form a coarse suspension, colloidal dispersion, or true solution? What about pepper? I thought both would be a coarse suspension
Some of the flour goes into solution, some forms a course suspension and there are some particles small enough to form a colloidal suspension. I think pepper forms a suspension.
Would non-dairy creamer also be a colloidal dispersion when placed in water?
When a pinch of flour is placed in water, it forms a colloidal dispersion. Similarly, when pepper is placed in water, it also forms a colloidal dispersion.
To understand the reasons behind this, we need to know the definitions of coarse suspension, colloidal dispersion, and true solution.
A coarse suspension is a mixture in which the particles are large enough to settle out due to gravity. In this case, the particles of flour or pepper are not large enough to settle out in water, so it doesn't form a coarse suspension.
A colloidal dispersion, on the other hand, is a mixture where tiny particles are dispersed within a medium without fully dissolving. In the case of flour and pepper in water, the particles of flour and pepper are small enough to disperse evenly throughout the water, creating a cloudy or opaque appearance. These particles are larger than the ones present in a true solution but smaller than those in a coarse suspension.
This is why flour and pepper in water form colloidal dispersions rather than true solutions or coarse suspensions.