There are two types of the emulsion, O/W emulsion or oil droplets in water, which can be found in ice cream and or milk, and W/O emulsion or water droplets in oil, found in butter and margarine.
1) Oil in water or O/W
Let’s start with the discussion of oil dispersed in water. Here, the dispersion medium is water and this kind of emulsion can be found in applications which have a small quantity of fatty material like moisturizing creams. Now, let’s discuss the case of milk which also lies in this type of emulsion. Milk consists of liquid fat which gets dispersed in water. These types of emulsions are unstable and hence can be separated into two different layers when at rest. Therefore, to balance the emulsion, another component called emulsifying agent is added. This emulsifying agent enables the medium and the suspended particles to mingle. These emulsifying agents can be gum, proteins, synthetic soaps, etc.
2) Water in oil or W/O
Now, let’s discuss with water dispersed in oil. Here, the dispersion medium is oil and its application can be found in butter and cream. Where do you find water in oil dispersion? We can find this in sunscreens as this type of emulsion has a higher sun protection factor and they are also better water resistant than oil in water emulsion.
Let’s differentiate between the two items to give a clear view of the two types of emulsions. Consider butter and cream, where the cream is oil in water emulsion and butter is water in oil emulsion. Literally, they are the same thing but butter is an emulsion resulting from the inversion of the cream which is an oil in water emulsion
These multiple type emulsions not only make low-calorie items such as cream which contain less oil but also stabilizes the emulsion by dissolving the unstable substance present in the deepest region of water droplets. Taste can also be enhanced by injecting seasonings and flavours into the water droplets.