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Tyndall Effect

Materials

Procedure

Shine light through aquarium. It will be virtually invisible where it passes through the aquarium and bright white where it emerges and shines toward the viewers.

Add the thiosulfate and HCl and stir. Mixture will become turbid in 1 - 2 minutes, and the turbidity will increase for ~10 min. As turbidity increases, the beam will become visible where it passes through the mixture. The beam passing through the solution appears blue, while the emerging beam appears orange. The blue beam will gradually widen.

Disposal

Flush down drain with water.

SATURATED SODIUM THIOSULFATE
Combine 50 mL distilled water with 90 g Na2S2O2 * 5H2O. Warm the mixture until it is liquid and allow to cool; decant the liquid, which is the saturated solution.

from Shakhashiri, B. Z., Volume 3, p 353



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Last Updated: 5/23/02