Editing Colloid (section)

==As a model system for atoms==
In [[physics]], colloids are an interesting model system for [[atom]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Manoharan| first=Vinothan N. |title=Colloidal matter: Packing, geometry, and entropy| journal=Science| volume=349| issue=6251 | pages=1253751| date=2015| doi=10.1126/science.1253751| pmid=26315444| s2cid=5727282 | url=https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/30410808/Manoharan-Science-2015-postprint.pdf?sequence=1| doi-access=free}}</ref> Micrometre-scale colloidal particles are large enough to be observed by optical techniques such as [[confocal microscopy]]. Many of the forces that govern the structure and behavior of matter, such as excluded volume interactions or electrostatic forces, govern the structure and behavior of colloidal suspensions. For example, the same techniques used to model ideal gases can be applied to [[Scientific modelling|model]] the behavior of a hard sphere colloidal suspension. [[Phase transition]]s in colloidal suspensions can be studied in real time using optical techniques,<ref name=greenfield2013shockwave>{{cite journal|last=Greenfield|first=Elad |author2=Nemirovsky, Jonathan |author3=El-Ganainy, Ramy |author4=Christodoulides, Demetri N |author5=Segev, Mordechai |title=Shockwave based nonlinear optical manipulation in densely scattering opaque suspensions|journal=Optics Express|year=2013|volume=21|issue=20|pages=23785–23802|doi=10.1364/OE.21.023785 | pmid = 24104290 |bibcode = 2013OExpr..2123785G |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5052&context=facultybib2010 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and are analogous to phase transitions in liquids. In many interesting cases optical fluidity is used to control colloid suspensions.<ref name=greenfield2013shockwave /><ref name=greenfield2011light>{{cite journal|last=Greenfield|first=Elad |author2=Rotschild, Carmel |author3=Szameit, Alexander |author4=Nemirovsky, Jonathan |author5=El-Ganainy, Ramy |author6=Christodoulides, Demetrios N |author7=Saraf, Meirav |author8=Lifshitz, Efrat |author9=Segev, Mordechai |title=Light-induced self-synchronizing flow patterns|journal=New Journal of Physics|year=2011|volume=13|issue=5|page=053021|doi=10.1088/1367-2630/13/5/053021|bibcode = 2011NJPh...13e3021G |doi-access=free }}</ref>