Question

By giving example define the following terms: Water of crystallisation

Answer 1

• The water of crystallization means having a fixed number of molecules present in one formula of a unit of salt.
• Crystal salts with water of crystallization are known as hydrates. The other names for water of crystallization are crystallization water or water of hydration.
• The water of crystallization is caused by forming purified crystals from an aqueous solution. These crystals do not include contaminants. These crystals are easily affected by heat.
• Examples of water of crystallization are proteins with more than 50% of the water of crystallization and copper sulphate pentahydrate with five molecules of water of crystallization(${\mathrm{CuSO}}_4.5{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$).