- solid solution
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1. a solid, homogeneous mixture of substances, as glass or certain alloys.2. (in a crystal structure) the more or less complete substitution of one kind of atom, ion, or molecule for another that is chemically different but similar in size and shape; isomorphism.
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Solid form of a liquid solution.As with liquids, a tendency for mutual solubility exists between any two coexisting solids (i.e., each can mix with the other); depending on the chemical similarities of the solids, mutual solubility of two substances may be 100% (as between silver and gold), or it may be near 0 (as between copper and bismuth).* * *
mixture of two crystalline (crystal) solids that coexist as a new crystalline solid. The mixing is usually accomplished by combining the two solids when they have been melted into liquids at high temperatures and then cooling the result to form the new solid. As with liquids, solids have different degrees of mutual solubility, depending on their chemical properties and crystalline structure, which determine how their atoms substitute for each other. The substances may be nearly mutually insoluble, as between water and kerosene, or they may be soluble over a partial range of relative concentrations, or even a complete range, such as water and alcohol. When there is solubility over a range of compositions, the result is a solid-solution series, with properties that vary continuously over the series.Many minerals occur as solid solutions, such as the forsterite-fayalite series of olivine minerals, whose members vary chemically from forsterite, a magnesium silicate (Mg2SiO4), to fayalite, an iron silicate (Fe2SiO4). The crystalline structure of the intermediate members is the same as that of the end members, and the physical properties show complete gradation from those of forsterite to those of fayalite. Solid solutions of semiconductors (semiconductor) are of great technological value, as in the combination of gallium arsenide (GaAs) with gallium phosphide (GaP) or aluminum arsenide (AlAs). The properties of either of these solid solutions can be tuned to values between those of the end compounds by adjusting the relative proportions of the compounds, which makes the mixed materials highly useful for a variety of electronic and optical devices such as light-emitting diodes (light-emitting diode) (LEDs).* * *
Universalium. 2010.