Question

What is the dispersed medium in case of aerosol?

Answer 1

Hint : Aerosol is one type of colloidal solution, in which solid or liquid particles are dispersed in a gas or air. A dispersed medium is in which particles are dispersed, different colloidal solutions have different dispersed mediums.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
The dispersed medium in case of aerosol is gas, it means that in aerosol solid or liquid particles are dispersed in a gaseous medium. For example, smoke, in smoke solid particles are dispersed in a gaseous medium.
Colloidal solution is a solution in which the particles have a diameter between 1 to 1000 nanometres. Colloidal solutions come in between solution and suspension, if the size of the particles is more than 1000 nanometre then it is called a suspension and if the size of the particles is less than 1 nanometre then it is called a solution.
Aerosol is one kind of a colloidal solution, the other three are sol, emulsion and foam. Sol is a colloidal solution in which solid particles are dispersed in liquid, emulsion is a colloidal solution in which liquid particles are dispersed in liquid.
Foam is a colloidal solution in which gaseous particles are dispersed in liquid or solid and aerosol is a colloidal solution in which solid or liquid particles are dispersed in gas. The medium in which the particles are dispersed is called dispersed medium.
In the case of sol dispersion, the medium is liquid, in emulsion it is liquid, in foam it is solid or liquid and in aerosol it is gas. Thus, the dispersed medium in aerosol is gas.

Note :
To determine if the given solution is a solution or colloid, the Tyndall effect is used. If the light passes the solution easily and the beam of the light cannot be seen through the solution then it is not a colloid. But, if the light is scattered in all directions and the beam can be seen then it is a colloid. Generally when the dispersion medium is water, the colloidal system is often referred to as hydrocolloid.