Mayonnaise: liquid or soft solid?
Friday, July 11, 2008
We know of 3 states of matter: gas, liquid, and solid (and plasma, I guess).
Now, under what classification does mayonnaise fall? It's not a liquid with high viscosity, or a soft solid. I know, I know: this is very important information. I guess I'll
google it.
For those curious enough, it's an
emulsion, or a mix of two (or more? I'm no chemist, so I don't know) liquids held together by something--in the case of mayonnaise, the something is egg.
Comments:
Hmm. I agree that Mayo's an emulsion, but I'd classify all the major contents as liquid, and the resulting emulsion would therefore also be a liquid, to me. I wouldn't consider emulsion to be a state/phase of matter.
I agree Geoffrey. I didn't realize that I implied 'emulsion' to be a state of matter, only to say that the mix is called an emulsion.
I also think it would be considered some kind of liquid, because of the main chemical structure. But that's what I'm not so sure of, and hence my question.
As I understand it, ice is considered to be in a solid state, but it's made of water molecules with atoms moving much more slowly.
What about mayo? What is it?