Crystallization

This process can be an artificial or natural one and it is a highly complex

process of the formation of solid crystals going from a solution or melting
and sometimes deposited directly from a gas. This is a technique that has
been used in the purification of substances. When a single compound is
placed in liquid it dissolves and if you continue to add more of the single
compound until there is not enough liquid to dissolve it, the concentration
of the solution depends on the temperature. A higher temperature results in
a higher concentration.

The Process of Crystallization

There are two different forms that you can use which are gradual cooling and
diffusion. Gradual cooling involves dissolving an impure solid in a heated solvent
and allows the solid to slowly cool at room temperature. During the cooling
process crystals begin to form and can be collected later on. First you must find a
solvent and test a small amount of the impure solid. The compound you desire
should be soluble when heated, nearly boiling, but slightly soluble at room
temperature. The compound must be able to precipitate out of solution at a cooler
temperature to allow the separation from the solvent and the dissolved impurities.
The other way is by diffusion and does not use heated solvents. This method is
preferred when the desired compound degrades at a high temperature or a boiling
point. The impure solid is dissolved in highly soluble solvent. It is then placed in
a tube and placed at an angle. Then you carefully layer a solvent which the
desired compound is insoluble on top of the first solution. A disposable pipet
carefully delivers the bad solvent. Slow diffusion of the undesired solvent into the
desirable solvent will cause crystals to grow slowly because of the interference
between two solvents. In order for the diffusion to work the impurities must be
soluble in both of them. Depending on the nature of the substance will determine
how long the entire process will take, sometimes it only take a s few minutes
while other compounds could take a few hours or even days.

Where Crystallization is used and how

Crystallization is a separation technique used to separate a solid that has been
slowly dissolved into a liquid and made into a new solution. The solution is
heated in a container in order to allow the solvent to evaporate which leaves
behind the saturated solution. As the saturated solution cools the solid will come
out of the solution and crystals will begin to form and grow. Afterwards the
crystals can be collected and allowed to dry. If the solid can not dissolve in the
liquid alone then it can be separated by using filtration. The size of the crystals
 depends on how fast it cools. Fast cooling will result in many crystals but they
will be small in size. If it cools quickly you will get large crystals but in a small
amount.

Who uses Crystallization and Why

Chemists are the ones who usually use this process and are used for different
things one of them being food preparation and storage. They use a crystallization
process in order to purify sugars and fats and can also change the texture of things
for example ice cream, fudge and chocolate. It is especially important when it
comes to freezing foods. Ice cream is smooth because of the billion of crystals in
it and if you leave it in the freezer long enough the crystals will grow resulting in
the grainy texture. Crystallization also happens in nature for example water
freezing over and the formation of snowflakes, rings formations, stalactites just to
name a few. And can also be used in the medical field for example in x-rays.