Ostwald ripening

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ostwald-ripening

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Ostwald ripening?1896
2. What is the thermodynamic driving force?Reduction of total surface free energy
3. What is the discoverer?Wilhelm Ostwald
4. Why do small particles disappear?Small particles have more surface energy, so they are less stable and dissolve into the liquid.
5. How does the dissolved material help bigger particles grow?The dissolved material moves through the liquid and sticks to larger particles, making them bigger.

Surface free energy: The excess energy associated with the surface of a material compared to its bulk.
Microstructure: The microscopic structural features of a material, such as grain size and phase distribution.
Kinetics: The study of the rates of chemical reactions or physical processes.