How to make a saturated salt solution?

In this brief guide, we will discuss the following question, “how to make a saturated salt solution?”, what is a saturated solution, and other queries related to the topic.

How to make a saturated salt solution? 

To make a saturated solution of sodium chloride, you have to find the solubility of sodium chloride in water. In cold water, the solubility of sodium chloride is 357 grams per 1 liter and this solubility will change based on the temperature of the water.

When your solution is saturated no more solute will be dissolved. Solubility often increases with temperature, so when you have a hot solvent you will be able to get more solute in it than you would if the solvent was cool. For example, in hot water, you can dissolve much more salt than you can in cold water.

There are three ways to make a saturated salt solution:

• Add solute which is the solid part, in our case is the salt, to a solvent usually a liquid, stir well until no more will dissolve, because the solid is denser than the liquid and will sink leaving a saturated solution.​
  
  
• Evaporate the solvent from an unsaturated solution by increasing air circulation and heating the solvent.
  
  
• Add a seed crystal to a supersaturated solution. A supersaturated solution contains more dissolved solute than the solvent holds. The seed crystal will cause the solute to precipitate.

What is a saturated solution?

A saturated solution is a solution that contains the maximum amount of solute or as much as possible of a specific solute without forming precipitation in the solvent. To tell that the solution is saturated an addition of a small quantity of the salt or the solute is enough to conclude.

If you see undissolved salt in the water, the solution is saturated, but if it dissolves completely the solution will be unsaturated, and in case crystals start to form around the added solute so the solution is over saturated or supersaturated.

Any amount above the solubility of salt in the water will produce a supersaturated solution, and all of the sodium chlorides or salt will not mix into the solution or the solvent.

How to prepare a supersaturated saltwater solution? 

To make a supersaturated saltwater solution you need to pour 8 oz of cold or water at room temperature and start by slowly adding the salt to the water when the excess salt starts to form at the bottom of the pan and heat the solution.

When the temperature of the water increases the undissolved salt will start dissolving in the liquid, keep stirring until you don’t see any remaining solute. Once all the salt is dissolved in the water add slowly more salt until small crystals start to form.

After this step, remove the pan from heating and pour the saltwater solution carefully into a clean container to leave the undissolved salt crystals in the pan. Even if the saltwater solution is left to be cooled, salt will not precipitate.

To prove that the solution is supersaturated, add a little bit of salt to the cooled solution and you will immediately see crystal formation at the bottom of the container.

How Does Salt Water Make an Egg Float?

Salt increases the density of water, however the denser the water, the easier it is for an egg to float. Moreover, the higher the salt content of water, the higher an object will float. An egg will sink if added to plain lukewarm water because it has greater density than plain water.

However, adding 1 tablespoon of salt to a glass of water will surely make the egg float after dissolving the salt in the water. When not adding enough salt or not stirring enough, the egg will float in the middle of the glaze because the salt is denser than the water.

Furthermore, the salt will sink and form a saltwater solution in the bottom of the glace, and since the egg is denser than the plain water it will sink until it will reach the saltwater where it will float.

Objects float when the density of the liquid is greater than that of the object, but the same object can sink in liquids when its density is greater than that of the liquid.

Other FAQs about Salt that you may be interested in.

Substituting table salt for kosher salt

What does salt do with ice temperature?

What happens to salt when it dissolves in water?

What happens when you drink saltwater?

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we discussed the following question, “how to make a saturated salt solution?”, what is a saturated solution, and other queries related to the topic.

References

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-a-saturated-solution-606041

https://www.reference.com/science/make-saturated-sodium-chloride-solution-f355f1bc077df13c

https://sciencing.com/prepare-supersaturated-salt-water-solutions-8559439.html