Dictionary of Environmental Health
One in which a liquid is incapable of dissolving any more of a solid material than it already contains at that temperature. A supersaturated solution can sometimes be created by dissolving (particularly a crystalline) solid in liquid at a higher temperature and then cooling the resultant solution to below its maximum saturated solution temperature.
Provided this is done in clean conditions and in the absence of any of the solid itself, the solid will remain in solution even beyond the saturated solution level. However, if a piece of the solid is introduced into the supersaturated solution this will act as a focus around which the solid can reform and the excess of the solid will precipitate from the solution.
This is the complete article, containing 121 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Saturation (chemistry)
