noun
- Salts or esters of metaphosphoric acid, formed by heating orthophosphates; used in detergents, water treatment, and food additives.
Usage: chemistry; plural form; technical
Examples
- Sodium metaphosphates are commonly used in industrial water softening processes.
- The detergent formula contains metaphosphates to improve cleaning efficiency.
- Metaphosphates help prevent mineral buildup in pipes and appliances.
- Food manufacturers add metaphosphates as preservatives in certain processed products.
- The chemist analyzed the metaphosphates in the water sample using spectroscopy.