<p>what exactly does supersaturated mean?</p>
<p>I just figure out that there are two possible definitions.</p>
<li>contain more than the maximum dissovable solute.</li>
</ol>
<p>example: the solubility is 60g, and you have 80 g ( 60 dissovled, and the other 20 just hanging out there).</p>
<li>overcome the solubility limit</li>
</ol>
<p>example: solubility is 60g, and you have 80g dissovled.</p>
<p>Supersaturated means that more solute is dissolved in the solvent than it's able to at that temperature/pressure. One way that this can happen are heating up the solvent and adding lots of solute to it (since solubility increases at higher temperatures), then cooling it very quickly so that, even though it's at a cooler temperature, the extra solute does not crystallize out of the solvent.</p>
<p>so it's 2 ?</p>
<p>Yeah... I should've mentioned that.</p>
<p>but what do call a solution like I mention in 1 ?</p>
<p>It's just saturated... the maximum amount for that temp/pressure is saturated.</p>
<p>its definitely 2, there are a couple stages to solubility</p>
<p>unsaturated, saturated, supersaturated, precipitate</p>
<p>precipitate = the first definition</p>
<p>supersaturated = second definition</p>
<p>The unsaturated stuff is called the precipitate. But the solution itself is saturated.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The unsaturated stuff is called the precipitate. But the solution itself is saturated.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>the undissolved stuff is the precipitate.</p>
<p>That's what I meant, heh. My bad.</p>
<p>My teacher said that precipitate only forms when you cooling the solution. . .</p>
<p>If you have a supersaturated solution (more solute is dissolved than "should" be), as it cools if there is a slight disturbance, the solute will come out of solution and crystallize - aka precipitate formation.</p>
<p>So there are TWO ways of forming precipitates</p>
<ol>
<li><p>putting more solutes than the maximum of it can be dissovled in a solution. SO the extras will become precipitates</p></li>
<li><p>cooling the solution</p></li>
</ol>
<p>cooling the solution doesn't work in ridiculous amounts nash.</p>
<p>if you wanna make a supersaturated solution precipitate, add a little piece of stuff that is already in the solution (say AgCl or something) and it will 'make more' than what you put in.</p>
<p>"if you wanna make a supersaturated solution precipitate, add a little piece of stuff that is already in the solution (say AgCl or something) and it will 'make more' than what you put in."</p>
<p>Yeah, that's what I learned.</p>
<p>I was having trouble with this question during my chemistry test:</p>
<p>When adding more solute to a saturated solution, the concentration of the solution will:</p>
<ol>
<li>decrease 2. increase 3. remains the same</li>
</ol>
<p>I mull over this quesiton for a long time, after all i think it really depends on how you define concentration.</p>
<p>No, I don't think so... it means the concentration of the (most likely liquid) solution. If it's saturated, simply adding more to it won't change the concentration (since no more is absorbed). It'll remain the same.</p>
<p>When adding more solute to a saturated solution, the concentration of the solution will remain the same.</p>
<p>This is because, by definition, saturation is a point of dynamic equilibrium. That is, the rate of dissolving (the forward process) equals the rate of precipitating (the reverse process) and the concentration remains constant.</p>
<p>I think it would cause it to decrease, because won't adding more solute to an already saturated solution cause the whole thing to precipitate?</p>
<p>I'm probably wrong though...</p>
<p>Only the extra solute would precipitate. What xoirene said about dynamic equilibrium is correct.</p>