Sodium Acetate

[frosch45]

Jeez, this is really annoying... HOT ICE

 

When sodium acetate trihydrate crystals (melting point 58 °C) are heated to around 100 °C, they melt. When this melt cools, it gives a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate in water. This solution is capable of supercooling at room temperature, well below its melting point, without forming crystals. A nucleation center may be formed which causes the solution to crystallize into solid sodium acetate trihydrate again. The bond-forming process of crystallization is exothermic, hence heat is emitted. It looks like when you touch it like a bunch of ice just spreads out from your touch.

 

 

Anyway, I'm having serious problems

 

I reacted vinegar with baking soda to get the sodium acetate, then I heated it so the water wasn't boiling but it was steaming in order to distill it and make it more concentrated

 

Then, after I had boiled all of the water out, just the crystals were left. I then added just a little bit of water, and then took the solution and then let it cool to room temperature. After it cooled, I provided a nucleation center in numerous ways, but nothing happened! I was really disappointed.

 

The solution was very supersaturated, I would describe it as a black-yellow.

 

PLEASE HELP

 

just search youtube or google for videos, it seems like it has worked for lots of other people

[ars3n]

How can you be sure that the solution is supersaturated?

Even starting with solid Na-acetate, making supersaturated solution isnt that easy, all reagents have to be pure, dissolved at high temperature then slowly cooled down. no dust should get into the mixture, heck even, no disturbance (sometime shaking supersaturated solution a little innitiates the crystalization right away).

 

So my guess, is that your solution is not supersaturated.