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Supersaturation
 
 
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The term supersaturation refers to a solution
Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
 that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by the solvent
Solvent

A solvent is a liquid or gas that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water....
 under normal circumstances. It can also refer to a vapor
Vapor

A vapor or vapour is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature.This means that the vapor can be condensation to a liquid or to a solid by increasing its pressure, without reducing the temperature....
 of a compound that has a higher (partial) pressure than the vapor pressure
Vapor pressure

Vapor pressure , is the pressure of a vapor in Thermodynamic equilibrium with its non-vapor Phase s. All liquids and solids have a tendency to evaporate to a gaseous form, and all gases have a tendency to Condensation back into their original form ....
 of that compound.

l particles (seeds
Seed crystal

A seed crystal is a small piece of single crystal material from which a large crystal of the same material typically is to be grown. The large crystal can be grown by dipping the seed into a supersaturated solution, into molten material that is then cooled, or by growth on the seed face by passing vapor of the material to be grown over it....
) can trigger
Trigger (particle physics)

In particle physics, a trigger is a system that uses simple criteria to rapidly decide which event in a particle detector to keep when only a small fraction of the total can be recorded....
 the separation of the dissolved material from the solvent or condensation
Condensation

Condensation is the change of the physical state of aggregation of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, bypassing the liquid phase the change is called Deposition , which is the opposite of sublimation....
 of the vapor.






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Kdp Crystal
The term supersaturation refers to a solution
Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent....
 that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by the solvent
Solvent

A solvent is a liquid or gas that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water....
 under normal circumstances. It can also refer to a vapor
Vapor

A vapor or vapour is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature.This means that the vapor can be condensation to a liquid or to a solid by increasing its pressure, without reducing the temperature....
 of a compound that has a higher (partial) pressure than the vapor pressure
Vapor pressure

Vapor pressure , is the pressure of a vapor in Thermodynamic equilibrium with its non-vapor Phase s. All liquids and solids have a tendency to evaporate to a gaseous form, and all gases have a tendency to Condensation back into their original form ....
 of that compound.

Condensation

Small particles (seeds
Seed crystal

A seed crystal is a small piece of single crystal material from which a large crystal of the same material typically is to be grown. The large crystal can be grown by dipping the seed into a supersaturated solution, into molten material that is then cooled, or by growth on the seed face by passing vapor of the material to be grown over it....
) can trigger
Trigger (particle physics)

In particle physics, a trigger is a system that uses simple criteria to rapidly decide which event in a particle detector to keep when only a small fraction of the total can be recorded....
 the separation of the dissolved material from the solvent or condensation
Condensation

Condensation is the change of the physical state of aggregation of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, bypassing the liquid phase the change is called Deposition , which is the opposite of sublimation....
 of the vapor. Seeds triggering the condensation of vapor are referred to as condensation nuclei, as in the case of water vapor
Water vapor

Water vapor or water vapour , also aqueous vapor, is the gas phase of water . Water vapor is one Phase of the water cycle within the hydrosphere....
. In the solid form these seeds can lead to the formation of crystallite
Crystallite

A crystallite is a domain of solid-state matter that has the same structure as a single crystal. Metallurgy often refer to crystallites as "grains"....
s or even large single crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
s. Supersaturation is a measure of the deviation of a dissolved salt crystal from its equilibrium state.

Preparation


Supersaturated solutions are prepared or result when some condition of a saturated solution is changed, for example temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
, volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
 (as by evaporation
Evaporation

Evaporation is the slow vaporization of a liquid and the reverse of condensation. A type of phase transition, it is the process by which molecules in a liquid State of matter spontaneously become gaseous ....
), or pressure
Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area applied to an object in a direction surface normal to the surface. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure....
.

Examples


Carbonated water
Carbonated water

Carbonated water, also known as sparkling water, fizzy water and seltzer, is plain water into which carbon dioxide gas has been dissolved, and is the major and defining component of most soft drinks....
 is a supersaturated solution of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 gas in water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
. At the elevated pressure in the bottle
Bottle

A bottle is a container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, ink and chemicals....
, more carbon dioxide can dissolve in water than at atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric pressure is sometimes defined as the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface at any given point in the Earth's atmosphere....
. At atmospheric pressure, the carbon dioxide gas escapes very slowly from the supersaturated liquid
Liquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....
. This process may be accelerated by the presence of nucleation
Nucleation

Nucleation is the onset of a crystal in a small region. The phase transition can be the formation of a bubble or of a crystal from a liquid. Creation of liquid droplets in saturated vapor or the creation of gaseous bubbles in a saturated liquid is also characterized by nucleation ....
 sites within the solution, such as small bubbles, caused by shaking the bottle, or another solute, such as sugar powder or a widget
Widget (beer)

A widget is a device placed in a container of beer to manage the characteristics of the beer's Beer head. The original widget was patented in Ireland by Guinness....
. A Diet Coke and Mentos eruption is a rather extreme example. Some beverage products such as ales and stouts e.g. Guinness
Guinness

Guinness is a popular dry stout that originated in Arthur Guinness' first brewery in Leixlip, County Kildare but it then moved to its present home at St....
 rely on this effect to produce the 'head' on the surface of the poured product. This has led to the invention of the widget
Widget (beer)

A widget is a device placed in a container of beer to manage the characteristics of the beer's Beer head. The original widget was patented in Ireland by Guinness....
, a device developed to produce enhanced bubble seeding in liquids, especially with dual supersaturated gas phases (carbon dioxide and nitrogen) (see patents by Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick

The surname Fitzpatrick is the translation of Mac Giolla Ph?draig from the original Irish language to English language. It is the only surname with the Fitz prefix of native Gaelic-Irish origin....
 and Kuzniarski).

Scuba divers'
Scuba diving

SCUBA diving is Underwater diving, or taking part in another activity, while using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas , the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in snorkeling and free-diving, and is not hindered by air lines to a remote air source....
 tissues
Biological tissue

Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. Hence, a tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function....
 become supersaturated with breathing gas
Breathing gas

Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. Other artificial gases, either pure gases or mixtures of gases, are used in breathing equipment and enclosed habitats such as Scuba set, surface supplied diving equipment, recompression chambers, submarines, space suits, spacecraft and anaesthetic machines....
es during a dive. If the diver ascends too fast, these gases form bubbles, resulting in decompression sickness
Decompression sickness

'Decompression sickness' , 'the diver?s disease', 'the bends', 'caisson disease' is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person exposed to a decrease in the pressure around the body....
.

In air that is supersaturated with water, water droplets may precipitate upon being disturbed. This can be observed in a cloud chamber
Cloud chamber

[Image:Cloud_chamber_bionerd.jpg|thumb|Cloud chamber with visible tracks from ionizing radiation The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is used for detecting particles of ionizing radiation....
. In the more general context a precipitate may form.

Supersaturated solutions of sugar and water are commonly used to make Rock candy
Rock candy

File:Brauner Kandiszucker.jpgFile:Kandiszucker_wei?.jpgRock candy is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals.Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a Supersaturation solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation....
.

See also

  • superheating
    Superheating

    In physics, superheating is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling. Superheating is achieved by heating a wiktionary:Homogeneous substance in a clean container, free of nucleation sites, while taking care not to disturb the liquid....
  • supercooling
    Supercooling

    Supercooling is the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid or a gas below its melting point, without it becoming a solid.A liquid below its standard freezing point will crystallization process in the presence of a nucleation around which a crystal structure can form....