Aerosol

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Aerosol technically refers to airborne solid particles (also called dust or particulate matter (PM)) or liquid droplets. In casual language, aerosol refers to an aerosol spray can or the output of such a can.

The term aerosol, derives from the fact that matter "floating" in air is a suspension (a mixture in which solid or liquid or combined solid-liquid particles are suspended in a fluid). To differentiate suspensions from true solutions, the term sol evolved—originally meant to cover dispersions of tiny (sub-microscopic) particles in a liquid. With studies of dispersions in air, the term aerosol evolved and now embraces both liquid droplets, solid particles, and combinations of these. An aerosol can come from a volcano or an aerosol can.