Tyndall effect

Overview


The Tyndall effect is the effect of polarity scattering on the equilibrium of molecules in colloid systems, such as suspensions or emulsions. It is named after the 19th century Irish scientist John Tyndall. The Tyndall effect is used to tell the difference between the different types of mixtures, namely solution, colloid, and suspension. For example, the Tyndall effect is noticeable when car headlights are used in fog.

The light with shorter wavelengths scatters better, thus the color of scattered light has a bluish tint. This is also the reason why the sky looks blue when viewed away from the sun: the blue light from the sun is scattered to a greater degree and is therefore visible far from its source. This effect occurs because short wavelengths of light towards the blue end of the spectrum hit the air molecules in the earth's atmosphere and are reflected down to the earth's surface. Longer wavelengths towards the red end of the spectrum are less affected by the particles and pass on through the earth's atmosphere.

Blue light scatters more readily than does red light. At sunset the pathlength of the light through the atmosphere is larger than at any other time of day, and is sufficiently long that the blue components of the light have undergone multiple scattering events such that the intensity at such a great viewing distance is minimal. Due to the prolonged pathlength, the red light shows obvious scattering effects as observed by the sky appearing different hues of red. The red light is visible only at such great distances through the atmosphere because it is less affected (scattered) by the particles of air than the blue light, which is no longer visible. This phenomenon is also responsible for the blue-white or "Golconda" diamonds (type IIa).

The Tyndall effect is more commonly referred to as Rayleigh scattering in introductory physics text books.