Q.The most effective electrolyte for the coagulation of As2S3 sol is
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Properties of Colloids
Colloidal solutions display fourteen distinctive properties. A sol's colour depends on preparation method, light wavelength, particle size/shape and viewing angle (reflected vs transmitted), and need not match the bulk substance's colour. Particle size ranges 1–1000 nm. Colloids are genuinely heterogeneous (two phases, shown by dialysis/ultrafiltration/ultracentrifuging) but are considered a border-line case given how much smaller their particles are than a coarse suspension's. They pass through ordinary filter paper (filtrability) yet remain stable against gravity (non-settling). Dilute sols stay stable; concentrating them promotes coagulation, and density falls as concentration falls. Colloidal particles diffuse only sluggishly (diffusability) yet still show genuine colligative properties (b.p. elevation, f.p. depression, osmotic pressure — the last used to estimate colloidal molecular weight). Particle shape varies genuinely by system: As2S3 spherical, Fe(OH)3 disc/plate-like, WO3 rod-like.
Optically, colloids show the Tyndall effect: a light beam scatters visibly through a colloidal solution (particles large enough to scatter light) but stays essentially invisible through a true solution (particles too small); Faraday first observed it, Tyndall investigated it in detail. Kinetically, colloidal particles show Brownian movement — continuous random zig-zag motion from unbalanced bombardment by faster dispersion-medium molecules (Robert Brown) — which lets Avogadro's number be calculated, confirms the kinetic theory, and explains colloidal stability (particles never stay close enough, long enough, for gravity to pull them together). …
As2S3 is a negatively charged sol, so by Hardy–Schulze it is coagulated most effectively by the cation of highest valency among the choices. …
Step 1. As2S3 sol is negatively charged, so by the Hardy–Schulze rule, coagulation power against it depends on the VALENCY OF THE CATION supplied by the added electrolyte — the higher the cation's charge, the more effective the coagulation, and at a much lower required concentration.
Step 2. Compare the cations supplied by each option: NaCl gives Na+ (1+); Ba(NO3)2 gives Ba2+ (2+); K3[Fe(CN)6] gives K+ (1+) as its cation (the complex [Fe(CN)6]3− is an anion, and so is irrelevant to coagulating a NEGATIVE sol); Al2(SO4)3 gives Al3+ (3+). …
Since As₂S₃ sol is negatively charged, apply the Hardy–Schulze rule to the CATION supplied by each electrolyte (not the anion) and …
Mistakenly using the anion's charge from K3[Fe(CN)6] (which is highly charged, 3−) instead of recognising that a NEGATIVE sol is …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.On which of the following properties does the coagulating power of an ion depend ?(a) The magnitude of the charge on the ion alone.(b) Both magnitude and sign of the charge on the ion.(c) The sign of charge on the ion alone.(d) Size of the ion alone.
›Reveal solutionSolution
For an ion to coagulate a colloid at all, its charge must be opposite in sign to that of the colloidal particles (only then does it neutralise the particles' charge); and given that correct sign, its coagulating power then increases sharply with the magnitude of its charge — so both the sign and the magnitude of the ion's charge together determine coagulating power.
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- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In an electrical field, the particles of a Colloidal system move towards cathode. The coagulation of the same sol is studied using(i) K2SO4,(ii) Na3PO4,(iii) K4[Fe(CN)6] and(iv) NaCl. Their coagulating power should be :(a)(iii) >(ii) >(i) >(iv)(b)(i) >(ii) >(iii) >(iv)(c)(ii) >(i) >(iv) >(iii)(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
Since the colloidal particles move to the cathode, the sol is positively charged, so coagulation requires oppositely-charged (anionic) electrolytes; the Hardy–Schulze rule states coagulating power increases sharply with the valency of the effective (oppositely-charged) ion, ranking [Fe(CN)6]4− highest and Cl− lowest.
Step 1 — identify the charge on the sol: in electrophoresis, colloidal particles migrate towards the electrode of opposite charge. Since the particles move towards the cathode (the negative electrode), the particles themselves must be positively charged.
Step 2 — identify the effective coagulating ion: for a positively charged sol, coagulation is caused by the anion of the added electrolyte (the ion of charge opposite to the sol).
Step 3 — apply the Hardy–Schulze rule: the coagulating power of an ion increases sharply (not linearly) with its valency/charge. Identifying the anion and its charge in each electrolyte:
- (i) K2SO4 → SO42− (charge −2)
- (ii) Na3PO4 → PO43− (charge −3) …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What do you mean by Tyndall effect?
›Reveal solutionSolution
Colloidal particles are large enough (1–1000 nm) to scatter visible light, which is what makes a light beam's path visible as it crosses a colloidal solution.
When a beam of light passes through a colloidal solution, the dispersed colloidal particles — being of a size (roughly 1 to 1000 nm) comparable to the wavelength of visible light — scatter the light in all directions. This scattering makes the PATH of the light beam visible from the side, an effect called the Tyndall effect. It does not occur (or is negligible) in a true solution, since dissolved particles/ions there are far too small to scatter visible …
- CBSE 2023Set TERM21 markMCQQ.Sb₂S₃ is the example of :(a) Positive sol.(b) Negative sol.(c) Neutral sol.(d) None of these.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Sulphide sols like As₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ preferentially adsorb S²⁻/HS⁻ ions from solution and become negatively charged.
Colloidal particles acquire charge mainly by preferential adsorption of a particular type of ion from the dispersion medium onto their surface.
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- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What is the particle size of colloidal solution?
›Reveal solutionSolution
Colloids are defined by an intermediate particle-size range - too large to be a true solution but too small to be a coarse suspension - roughly 1 nm to 1000 nm.
Mixtures are classified by the size of the dispersed particles:
- TRUE SOLUTIONS: particle size less than about 1 nm (e.g., dissolved ions/small molecules) - do not scatter light, cannot be filtered out. …
- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Tyndall effect is observed in(a) True solution(b) Precipitate(c) Colloidal solution(d) Vapour
›Reveal solutionSolution
The Tyndall effect — visible scattering of a light beam — occurs specifically in colloidal solutions.
The Tyndall effect is the scattering of light by particles in a medium, making the path of a light beam visible when viewed from the side (e.g., a beam of sunlight through dust in a room, or a car headlight beam in fog).
Why colloids show it: Colloidal particles (1 nm – 1000 nm) are large enough to scatter visible light effectively, but small enough to stay suspended rather than settle. This size range is exactly what causes strong Tyndall scattering.
Why the other options don't:
- True solutions — particles (ions/small molecules, <1 nm) are too small to scatter visible light appreciably; the beam passes through unseen. …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The Tyndall's effect associated with colloidal particles is due to :(a) absorption of light(b) reflection of light(c) scattering of light(d) presence of charge
›Reveal solutionSolution
Colloidal particles are large enough to scatter visible light in all directions, and this scattering is what produces the visible Tyndall cone/beam.
True solutions do not show this effect because their solute particles (ions/small molecules) are too small to scatter light appreciably, whereas colloidal particles (1 nm – 1000 nm) are comparable in size to the wavelength of visible light and scatter it strongly — this is Rayleigh-type scattering, distinct from simple absorption or specular reflection. The presence of a c …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which one of the following processes does not involve coagulation ?(a) Peptisation(b) Formation of delta(c) Purification of drinking water using alum(d) Tanning of leather using tannin
›Reveal solutionSolution
Peptisation redisperses a precipitate into a colloidal sol, which is the opposite of coagulation (which converts a sol into a precipitate).
Delta formation occurs when colloidal clay carried by a river coagulates on meeting electrolytes in seawater; alum purifies drinking water by coagulating suspended colloidal impurities; tanning uses tannins to coagulate the collagen protein in animal hide into leather — all three are genuine coagulation processes. Peptisation, in contrast, is deliberately used to disperse a freshly prepared precipitate ba …
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