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I have a salt in water and I want to evaporate the water. I'm wondering, what will be differences (if any) in the character of the crystals in a few scenarios: Slow evaporation - let the solution sit in open air and allow natural evaporation. Use vacuum to evaporate the water quickly. Vacuum + heat to evaporate/boil the water quickly Thanks in advance. may be vulnerable to collect dust by prolonged contact to air, if not protected. It may be preferable as slow evaporation leads to big, more pure and well built crystals and vice be a good trade off between evaporation speed and agressiveness of the method. Rotating evaporation vacuum devices are frequent way to violate salt stability, promoting decomposition or formation of lower hydrates. There may be mechanical salt loses and contamination of equipment by the salt or the liquid. Generally is boiling a bad idea, unless the time is priority.

User Louann
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Final answer:

The character of the crystals in a salt solution can vary depending on the evaporation method used. Slow evaporation leads to larger, more pure crystals, while quick evaporation methods may result in smaller, less pure crystals. Vacuum + heat evaporation can be aggressive and may cause salt stability issues and equipment contamination.

Step-by-step explanation:

Differences in the character of the crystals can occur depending on the method used to evaporate the water from a salt solution. In slow evaporation, where the solution is left in open air, the crystals will grow bigger, more pure, and well built due to the slow evaporation process.

When using a vacuum to evaporate the water quickly, the crystals may be smaller and less pure due to the faster evaporation rate. Vacuum + heat can lead to even faster evaporation, but it may also violate salt stability and result in the decomposition or formation of lower hydrates, as well as mechanical salt losses and equipment contamination.

User Imad Moqaddem
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