ABSTRACT
The precipitation of an insoluble substance from a solvent is a complicated process and great effort has been put into understanding the nature of the steps involved. These steps are, regardless of the nature of the precipitate in question, nucleation and crystal growths. The response of precipitate formations to different sets of conditions, on the other hand, depends strongly on the type of substance being precipitated. It is therefore relevant to go through some of the principles of precipitation when investigating the nature of limit tests based on precipitation. Since the tests are dependent on the ability of the operator to make a visually reproducible precipitate in a test solution and a standard of a reasonably similar composition, this chapter will focus on how operating conditions will affect the formation and character of a precipitate.
