Hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) was acetylated to modify molecular charge keeping the molecular size and weight nearly constant. Two derivatives, A and B, more and less acetylated, respectively, were obtained, separated, purified and added to the solution from which crystals of tetragonal HEWL crystals were grown. Amounts of the A and B impurities added were 0.76, 0.38 and 0.1 mg/ml and 0.43, 0.22, 0.1 mg/ml, respectively. The HEWL concentration were 20, 30 and 40 mg/ml. The crystals grown in 18 experiments for each impurity concentration and supersaturation were dissolved and quantities of A or B additives in these crystals were analyzed by cation exchange high performance liquid chromatography. All the data for each set of 18 samples with the different impurity and regular HEWL concentrations is well described by one distribution coefficient K = 2.15 +/- 0.13 for A and K = 3.42 +/-0.25 for B. According to definition of K by Eq. (1) in the text, the condition K = const is equivalent to a decrease of impurity amount in the crystal as the supersaturation increases. The observed independence of the distribution coefficient on both the impurity concentration and supersaturation is explained by the dilution model described in this paper. It shows that the impurity adsorption and incorporation rates are proportional to the impurity concentration and that the growth rate is proportional to the concentration of crystallizing protein in solution. The frequency at which an impurity molecules irreversibly join the crystal was estimated to be 3 s(-1), much higher than such frequency for regular crystal molecules 5 x 10(-2) s(-1) at 30 mg/ml lysozyme concentration. Reasons for this inequality are discussed.