The solubility of a substance is determined by preparing its saturated solution and then finding the concentration by evaporation or a suitable chemical method. Saturated solution of a solid substance may be prepared by shaking excess of it with the solvent in a vessel placed in a constant temperature bath and filtering the clear solution. A known volume of this saturated solution is evaporated in a china dish and from the weight of the residue the solubility can easily be calculated. This method though simple, does not yield accurate results. During filtration, cooling would take place and thus some solid may be deposited on the filter paper or in the stem of the funnel. However, this method is quite good for the determination of solubility at room temperature. The evaporation of a liquid is a highly undesirable operation as it is not possible to avoid loss of the liquid caused by spurting. This difficulty can, however, be overcome whenever a chemical method of analysis is available. Another defect in this method is that it takes a long time to establish the equilibrium between the solid and the solution so that the preparation of saturated solution by simple agitation with the solvent is delayed. This difficulty may be overcome by first preparing the saturated solution at a higher temperature and then to cool it to the desired temperature at which solubility is to be determined.
