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How to Make a Supersaturated Epsom Salt Solution

You may be familiar with solutions involving liquids, especially water, but solutions can be prepared with solvents and solutes in all three states of matter. When you keep adding a solute like a salt to a solution, the salt will keep dissolving until the solution becomes saturated. At that point, any additional salt particles will no longer dissolve. Heating a salt solution will, in most instances, increase the solubility of the salt. When such a solution is cooled carefully, the extra salt particles will remain dissolved and the solution will become supersaturated.

Things You'll Need

Water
Cooking pot
Glass heat-proof container
Spoons
Epsom salt

Instructions

- 1
  Add one or two cups of water to a pot and bring the water to a boil.
- 2
  Turn off the heat and take the pot off the stove once the water has started boiling.
- 3
  Pour the water into a glass, heat-proof container. Using a glass container will allow you to better see any particles forming in the salt solution.
- 4
  Use a spoon and slowly add some Epsom salt to the water in the container. While adding the salt, use a second spoon to stir the water. Stir until all of the added salt has dissolved.
- 5
  Keep slowly adding salt and stirring the solution with a second spoon.
- 6
  As you are slowly adding more Epsom salt and stirring, watch to see whether any salt crystals are starting to accumulate on the bottom of the container instead of dissolving. When you notice this, stop adding salt.
- 7
  Let the container sit, undisturbed, while the solution cools. As it cools, the solution becomes supersaturated.

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