What is suspension?

Suspension is when things stay floating in a liquid or gas without sinking or rising.

Imagine you drop a tiny toy car into a big glass of water, it goes straight to the bottom. But if you put the same toy car into a jar full of oil, it might just hang there, not moving up or down. That’s suspension in action!

Think about when you stir a cup of chocolate milk. The chocolate bits swirl around and don’t settle at the bottom right away, they’re like little dancers in the liquid. This is because they're in suspension.

But if you leave it alone, eventually the chocolate bits will slowly sink to the bottom, that’s when the suspension breaks down into a mixture, not all floating together anymore.

If you shake up a bottle of fruit drink and then stop shaking it, the pieces of fruit float around like they’re riding a little boat. That’s how suspension works, things can be floating in a liquid or gas without moving much at first, just hanging out!