Solvation rates of crystalline and noncrystalline materials

Assuming equal surface area (and other variables), would a highly ordered crystal of some substance dissolve more slowly or quickly than (or at the same rate as) a disordered sample of the same substance?


I immediately thought it would be slower for a crystal to dissolve before thinking about why. Thermodynamically speaking, it should be entropically more favorable to break up the ordered crystal structure, but that doesn't determine kinetics. Kinetically, I think the energy required to break the intermolecular bonds in a crystal would cause the dissolution to be slower.


