An emulsion can only be made from two liquids that don’t dissolve in each other, and therefore retain their distinct identities even when mixed The molecules of water and alcohol, for example, mix freely and so can’t form an emulsion In addition to sauces, cosmetic creams, floor and furniture waxes, some paints, asphalt, and crude oil are all emulsions of water and oil The Relative Proportions of Fat and Water in Common Food Emulsions Food Parts Fat to 100 Parts Water Fat-in-Water Emulsions Whole milk Half-and-half 15 Light cream 25 Heavy cream 70 Heavy cream reduced by a third 160 Egg yolk 65 Mayonnaise 400 Water-in-Fat Emulsions Butter 550 Vinaigrette 300 Two Liquids: Continuous and Divided The two liquids in an emulsion can be thought of as the container and the contained: one liquid is broken up into separate droplets, and these droplets are contained in and surrounded by the intact mass of the other liquid In the usual shorthand, an “oil-in-water” emulsion is one in which oil is dispersed in a continuous water phase; “water-in-oil” names the reverse situation The dispersed liquid takes the form of tiny droplets, between a ten-thousandth and a tenth of a millimeter across The droplets are large enough to deflect light rays from their normal path through the surrounding ... 65 Mayonnaise 400 Water-in-Fat Emulsions Butter 550 Vinaigrette 300 Two Liquids: Continuous and Divided The two liquids in an emulsion can be thought of as the container and the contained: one liquid... is broken up into separate droplets, and these droplets are contained in and surrounded by the intact mass of the other liquid In the usual shorthand, an “oil-in-water” emulsion is one in which oil is dispersed in a continuous water... phase; “water-in-oil” names the reverse situation The dispersed liquid takes the form of tiny droplets, between a ten-thousandth and a tenth of a millimeter across The droplets are large enough