Solutions are everywhere around us. They are the drinks we drink with the chemicals we mix in a common feed laboratory. The technical definition of a solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. A solution can be a solid dissolved in a liquid, but it can also be a solution in cages and solids. Air is a solution of several gases including oxygen and nitrogen. Metallic items are also solutions. The rings and bracelets that many people commonly wear are homogeneous mixtures of two or more types of metals commonly referred to as alloys. The most common form of solution is a substance dissolved in water. Solutions are made up of two parts: the solute and the solvent. The solvent is the substance in which it is dissolved. The solvent is the compound present in the greatest quantity. The solute is the second part. The solute is dissolved in the solvent. It is present in smaller quantities than the solvent. A solution in which the solvent is water is called an aqueous solution. Many important chemical reactions usually occur in aqueous solutions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Liquid solutions are clear and transparent. That's not to say they don't have color. They can be colorless or colored depending on the characteristics of the solute and solvent. A true solution is a homogeneous mixture with uniform properties throughout. In a real solution the solute cannot be isolated from the solution by filtration. Additionally, solute particles will not settle out of solution over time. If the particles are not homogeneous or settle over time, the solution is called a colloidal dispersion. In a colloidal dispersion the solute particles are distributed throughout the solvent. However, the particle size of the solute is much larger than the particle size of the solvent, therefore they form a precipitate or an insoluble substance formed and separated from the solution. A precipitate will be visible to the naked eye. To the naked eye, a colloidal solution and a real solution will appear identical. The solute and colloid cannot be seen. How can an experimenter spot the difference? Light. In a colloidal solution, the colloidal particles are large enough to scatter light. This causes the solution to appear hazy. The solute particles in the real solution will not be large enough to scatter light. The ability of colloidal dispersions to scatter light is called the Tyndall effect. A suspension is a heterogeneous mixture that contains particles much larger than a colloidal dispersion. Over time the particles can settle and form a second phase. A suspension is not a real solution. Even a suspension is not a precipitate. Polarity plays a role in the solubility of a solute in a solvent. The phrase “like dissolves like” is used to describe the fundamental condition of solubility. The degree of solubility is a quantitative measure of how much solute can dissolve in a given volume of solvent. Solutes described as polar are soluble in a polar solvent. Solutes described as nonpolar dissolve well in nonpolar solvents. This is a good guide for solubility measurements, but it can be difficult to predict the solubility of any individual compound. There are other factors for solubility. The first is the magnitude of the difference between the polarity of the solute and the solvent. The greater the difference, the less soluble the solute. The second is the temperature. It is well known that sugar dissolves better in hot tea. The same goes for many other substances. As a general rule, the higher the temperature, the more easily the solute will dissolve in the solvent. The third factor of.