Crystallization of Supersaturated Sodium Acetate
A solution of sodium acetate in water is in a flask. A few small crystals of sodium acetate are placed on the top of the laboratory bench. The solution from the flask is poured over the crystals. As the solution contacts the crystals, its color changes from clear to white very rapidly and it crystallizes into a solid mound of material that builds up into a fairly tall vertical structure.
The probe from a digital thermometer touches the solid sodium acetate to test the temperature. It is seen that the material is quite warm. The process of crystallization is an exothermic process in which heat is given off to the surroundings.
(The crystallization occurred rapidly once a seed crystal was available. The seed crystal provides a structure around which the ions of sodium acetate could form a solid crystal lattice.)
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