Question

What does excess supersaturating followed by cooling lead to?

(a) Primary nucleation

(b) Secondary nucleation

(c) Both, nucleation and crystal growth in general

(d) None of the mentioned

This question was posed to me during a job interview.

I'd like to ask this question from Unit Operations in chapter Equilibrium Stage Operations, Unit Operations – Extraction, Crystallization and Filteration of Food Engineering

Answer 1

Correct choice is (a) Primary nucleation

To explain: Excess supersaturating followed by cooling only leads to primary nucleation. That’s like the formation of only the first crystal. Secondary nucleation is due to the agglomeration of crystals which is desirable.