Scientists Say Chemistry

Scientists Say: Solution

This is the word we use to describe one chemical dissolved into another

tea

When you stir sugar into your tea, you are creating a solution. 

Tatyana A./Flickr/ (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

By Bethany Brookshire

Solution (noun, “So-LU-shun”)

A liquid in which one chemical has been mixed into another. Often solids are dissolved into a liquid. This means they are evenly spread through the fluid and stably stays that way. When a chemical is able to dissolve into a liquid, it is soluble. A measure of how well one chemical can dissolve into another is its solubility.

In a sentence

Scientists are considering a salty method to generate power using a solution of uranium dissolved in a liquid.

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Power Words

(for more about Power Words, click here)

dissolve  To turn a solid into a liquid and disperse it into that starting liquid. For instance, sugar or salt crystals (solids) will dissolve into water. Now the crystals are gone and the solution is a fully dispersed mix of the liquid form of the sugar or salt in water.

soluble  Some chemical that is able to dissolve into some liquid. The resulting combo becomes a solution.

solubility  A measure of the ability of one chemical to dissolve into another, creating a chemical solution.

solution   A liquid in which one chemical has been dissolved into another.

About Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology and likes to write about neuroscience, biology, climate and more. She thinks Porgs are an invasive species.

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