Tyndall effect

Tyndall effect

In both physics and chemistry, a phenomenon is studied that helps explain why some particles are visible at certain times. This phenomenon is known as Tyndall effect. It is a physical phenomenon that was studied by the Irish scientist John Tyndall in 1869. Since then these studies have had numerous applications in the field of physics and chemistry. And it is that it studies some particles that are not visible to the naked eye. However, thanks to the fact that they can reflect or refract light, they become invisible in certain situations.

In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the Tyndall effect and the importance it has for physics in chemistry.

What is the Tyndall effect

It is a type of physical phenomenon that explains how certain diluted particles or within a gas can become visible due to the fact that they are capable of reflecting or refracting light. If we look at it at first glance, we can see that these particles are not visible. However, the fact that can scatter or absorb light differently depending on the environment in which it is located, it allows to distinguish them. They can be seen if they are suspended in a solution while they are traversed transversely to the observer's visual plane by an intense beam of light.

If the light does not pass through this context they cannot be seen. For example, to understand it more easily we are talking about particles such as specks of dust. When the sun enters through the window with a certain degree of inclination we can see the specks of dust floating suspended in the air. These particles are not visible otherwise. They can only be seen when sunlight enters a room with a certain degree of inclination and a certain intensity.

This is what is known as the Tyndall effect. Depending on the observer's point of view, you can see particles that normally cannot. Another example that highlights the Tyndall effect is when we use the headlights of a car in fog. The illumination that the few exert on the humidity allows us to see the water particles in suspension. Otherwise, we would only see what the fog itself is.

Importance and contributions

Tyndall effect in chemistry

In both physics and chemistry, the Tyndall effect has numerous contributions to certain studies and great importance. And it is that thanks to this effect we can explain why the sky is blue. We know that the light that comes from the sun is white. However, when the Earth's atmosphere enters, it collides with the molecules of the different gases that compose it. We remember that the Earth's atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen, oxygen and argon molecules to a lesser extent. In much lower concentrations are the greenhouse gases among which we have carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor, among others.

When white light from the sun hits all these suspended particles it undergoes different deflections. The deflection suffered by the light beam from the sun with the oxygen molecules in nitrogen causes it to have different colors. These colors depend on the wavelength and the degree of deviation. The colors that deviate the most are violet and blue since they have a shorter wavelength. This makes the sky this color.

John Tyndall was also the discoverer of the greenhouse effect thanks to the simulation of the Earth's atmosphere in a laboratory. The initial objective of this experiment was to calculate precisely how much solar energy came from the Earth and how much it was that radiated back to space from the Earth's surface. As we know, not all the solar radiation that falls on our planet stays. Part of it is deflected by clouds before reaching the surface. Another part is absorbed by greenhouse gases. Finally, the land surface diverts part of the incident solar radiation depending on the albedo of each type of soil. After the experiment that Tyndall generated in 1859, he was able to discover the greenhouse effect.

Variables that affect the Tyndall effect

As we mentioned before, the Tyndall effect it is nothing more than the scattering of light that occurs when a beam of light passes through a colloid. This colloid are individual suspended particles that are responsible for dispersing and reflecting long, making them visible. The variables that affect the Tyndall effect are the frequency of light and the density of the particles. The amount of scattering that can be seen in this type of effect depends entirely on the values ​​of the frequency of the light and the density of the particles.

As with Rayleigh scattering, blue light tends to scatter more strongly than red light because they have a shorter wavelength. Another way of looking at it is that there is a longer wavelength that is transmitted, while a shorter one is reflected by the scattering. The other variable that affects is the size of the particles. This is what distinguishes a colloid from a true solution. For a mixture to be of the colloid type, the particles that are in suspension must have an approximate size in the range between 1-1000 nanometers in diameter.

Let's see some of the main examples where we can use the Tyndall effect:

  • When We turn on the lantern light on a glass of milk we can see the Tyndall effect. It is best to use skim milk or dilute the milk with a little water so that the effect of the colloidal particles in the light beam can be seen.
  • Another example is that of scattering blue light and can be seen in the blue color of smoke from motorcycles or two-stroke engines.
  • The visible beam of headlights in the fog can make floating water particles visible.
  • This effect is used commercial and laboratory settings in order to determine the size of the aerosol particles.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Tyndall effect.


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