double salt

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a salt that crystallizes as a single substance but ionizes as two distinct salts when dissolved, as carnallite, KMgCl 3 ⋅6H 2 O.

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double salt British  

noun

1. a solid solution of two simple salts formed by crystallizing a solution of the two salts Compare complex salt

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double salt Scientific  

1. A salt that crystallizes from an aqueous solution of a mixture of two different ions. The mineral dolomite (CaMg(CO ₃) ₂), for example, is a double salt that crystallizes from a solution containing both calcium and magnesium ions. Double salts exist only as solids.

2. Compare complex salt simple salt

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Etymology

Origin of double salt

First recorded in 1840–50