What Is An Emulsion?

Emulsion can be said to be several things. The dictionary definition of emulsion is "a fine dispersion of minute droplets of one liquid in another in which it is not soluble or miscible". This means that is has to be a mixture of two separate liquids in order to be classed as emulsion.

Emulsion is also very familiar to painter and decorators as it is a form of paint widely used when decorating homes. The dictionary also defines this type of emulsion as "a type of paint used for walls, consisting of pigment bound in a synthetic resin that forms an emulsion with water".

Emulsion can also be relevant in photography and films. Again, the dictionary describes this emulsion as "A light-sensitive coating for photographic films and plates, containing crystals of a silver compound dispersed in a medium such as gelatin".

If you are unsure of what a word means then in this day and age it is quite easy to get an instant answer. You can do the more traditional thing of looking it up in a dictionary or encyclopaedia. However, there are now lots of other ways. You can simply head to Google.com and type in the word or head to some online dictionary sites such as Dictionary.com. You should also find that Wikipedia.com will also do the same job as a traditional encyclopaedia.

An emulsion is a suspension with tiny droplets of one liquid in another liquid, both of which do not mix that well. It is a liquid preparation of two immersible liquids, one of which is dispersed throughout the other but which does not completely mix with the molecules of the other. An example of an emulsion is a mixture of water and oil and oil and vinegar. Most cosmetics, medicines and paints are emulsions.

An emulsion is basically a mixture of liquids that are immiscible - they do not dissolve and they do not mix very well. (Liquids that do mix are said to be miscible.) An emulsion is often formed from two liquids, one of which is aqueous or water based and the other which is an oily liquid, which does not mix with water because it contains hydrophobic particles.

The different phases in an emulsion are called particular names. The supporting liquid is called the continuous phase and the liquid which forms the droplets is called the disperse phase.

The harder you shake an emulsion, the smaller the droplets in the disperse phase become. Common emulsions include food products such as milk and mayonnaise.

Using a commercial emulsion mixer, it is possible to achieve a droplet size of 100 to 1000 nanometres, so the liquid looks homogeneous to the naked eye.

A suspension of two liquids

Paint