Saturation

Saturation, in chemistry and physics, term applied to a state in which further increase in a variable above a critical value produces no increase in a resultant effect. A saturated solution will dissolve no more solute, an equilibrium having been reached. Raising the temperature usually allows more to dissolve; cooling may produce super saturation, in which sudden crystallization depositing the excess solute occurs if a seed crystal is added. In organic chemistry a saturated molecule has no double or triple bonds and so does not undergo additional reactions.