I'm making ham stew and I sprinkle salt on top of the liquid. Will is disperse?

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The dispersion of salt in a mixture, such as a stew, is influenced by several key factors. While stirring ensures effective mixing, the discussion highlights that without agitation, diffusion will be the primary mechanism for salt movement. However, diffusion is a slow process, especially in a mixture that is near boiling but not vigorously boiling, which limits convective mass transport. Despite this, even minimal convective flow can occur due to heat from the bottom, which may aid in dispersing the salt. Additionally, strategically sprinkling salt in different areas of the stew can improve initial dispersion, enhancing the overall distribution of salt throughout the mixture.
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What are the factors affecting dispersion of salt in a mixture?

Obviously stirring will guarantee effective mixing, but I'm wondering how much I could expect the salt to disperse throughout the stew if I were to not touch it.

The stew is near/at boiling (100 C), but it is not vigorously boiling, so I don't expect any convective mass transport of the salt. I expect diffusion alone to drive the movement of the salt ions.
 
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Diffusion is very slow (you can probably neglect it for reasonable cooking times) - even without visible boiling, you have convective flow, at least if heat comes from the bottom.
 
pa5tabear said:
What are the factors affecting dispersion of salt in a mixture?

Obviously stirring will guarantee effective mixing, but I'm wondering how much I could expect the salt to disperse throughout the stew if I were to not touch it.

The stew is near/at boiling (100 C), but it is not vigorously boiling, so I don't expect any convective mass transport of the salt. I expect diffusion alone to drive the movement of the salt ions.

what he said. diffusion is slow, convection will dominate as long as the temperature gradient is big enough. also you can sprinkle the salt at different places so that the initial conditions are more dispersed.
 

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