Home >
Community >
sodium thiosulfate in a supersaturated solution.
Upvote
13
Downvote
+ Chemistry
Posted by
Mary Youngblut
sodium thiosulfate in a supersaturated solution.
The supersaturated solution wants to crystallize badly. Adding a few crystals gives it a template to get started. The heat is just energy given off as the whole thing reduces to a more orderly state.
The supersaturated solution wants to crystallize badly. Adding a few crystals gives it a template to get started. The heat is just energy given off as the whole thing reduces to a more orderly state.More
Upvote
VOTE
Downvote
The solubility of a compound varies with the temperature, when cooling down your solution went from saturated to oversaturated, adding a few solid crystals only catalyses the crystallisation but it would've happened anyway. + crystallisation is an exothermic process (that's why a compound melts at a constant T)
The solubility of a compound varies with the temperature, when cooling down your solution went from saturated to oversaturated, adding a few solid crystals only catalyses the crystallisation but it would've happened anyway. + crystallisation is an exothermic process (that's why a compound melts at a constant T)More
Upvote
VOTE
Downvote
when you supersaturate a solution with sodium thiosulfate, the excess sodium thiosulfate molecules are not able to stay dissolved in the solution. when you add more crystals of sodium thiosulfate, it provides a surface for these excess molecules to crystalize on and as they do so, they release heat.
when you supersaturate a solution with sodium thiosulfate, the excess sodium thiosulfate molecules are not able to stay dissolved in the solution. when you add more crystals of sodium thiosulfate, it provides a surface for these excess molecules to crystalize on and as they do so, they release heat.More
VOTE
VOTE
VOTE
VOTE