How to grow a crystal from sea salt. How to grow a crystal from salt at home - is it difficult? We will tell you how to grow salt crystals at home

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Growing a real crystal is quite simple, interesting and educational. This article explains how to do it at home.

Crystals are formed from any substance whose atoms and molecules are grouped into an ordered structure. You don't need a laboratory or special equipment to grow them. The simplest reagents that are always at hand will do.

Crystal growing Is one of the easiest and safest chemical experiments available at home. Even a child of primary school age under the supervision of adults can carry it out.

The reward for your efforts will be an object of extraordinary beauty that you create with your own hands.

Crystal types

A monocrystal is a one-piece large crystal, such as an artificial stone. It is formed under the condition that the crystallization processes are extremely slow.
A polycrystal is formed when crystallization is rapid. In this case, many tiny crystals are formed. This is how metals behave.

Ways to grow crystals at home

One of the easiest ways to grow a crystal is to cool a saturated solution. What processes occur during this process?

In warm water, the substance chosen for the experiment (for example, salt) dissolves completely.
The temperature of the solution is lowered: this reduces the solubility of the salt. An undissolved salt is formed which precipitates.
Sediment formation begins with the formation of small grains both in the solution itself and on the surface of the container in which it is placed.
If there are no foreign inclusions in the solution (ordinary dust particles, villi, etc.), and cooling occurs gradually, these grains-crystals grow together into larger and more regular crystals.
Rapid cooling causes the formation of many tiny crystals of irregular shape at once, which do not join together and inhibit the growth of each other.

The crystal will also grow if the solvent (water) is gradually removed from the saturated solution. How to do this and what will happen in the vessel?

Cookware with a saturated solution must be kept at a constant temperature for a long time.
It is necessary to exclude the ingress of litter and dust, and also to slow down the evaporation of water (for this, it is enough to cover the container with paper).
The crystal can be grown on some kind of suspension in the middle of the container (then it will acquire the correct shape), or at the bottom of the container.
If the crystal grows at the bottom, it must be rotated periodically to achieve symmetry.
In place of the evaporated water, add a solution of the same consistency as at the beginning of the experiment.

The basic principle in this case remains the same: the slower the processes affecting crystallization go, the more beautiful, larger and more correct the crystals will be. If the original crystal, which served as the basis for growing, had an irregular shape, it will supplement the missing parts during growth and assume a configuration typical of the nature of its substance. So copper sulfate will eventually grow into a rhombus, and the salts of potassium chromium alum will form an octahedron.

It is believed that only a small crystal can grow at home from improvised means. This is not so: with due care, there is every chance of growing a crystal of any size and weight at home. In fact, for this it is enough to continue the crystallization procedure until the desired result is achieved. Of course, it is necessary to immediately select a container of a suitable size.

Preservation of crystals

Failure to comply with storage conditions can lead to destruction of the crystal. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the selected substance in advance to avoid disappointment at the end of such a long and painstaking work.

So, the chiseled edges of the alum crystal under the action of ordinary dry air will fade due to moisture loss and crumble, forming a gray powder. The same will happen with sodium sulfate and thiosulfate, salts of manganese, zinc, nickel, Rochelle salt. The only way out is to place the crystals in sealed transparent vessels. Some recommend covering the crystals with a clear varnish, but this only delays the time of death. And also - lacquered edges lose their original shine and look artificial.

The high temperature destroys crystals grown from copper sulfate and potassium alum. The shelf life of such crystals can be extended by storage in a household refrigerator. However, even here they will hold out for about 2 years.

Another problem of crystals of water-soluble substances is that they are destroyed by temperature changes due to moisture, which is retained in a small amount inside them. For this reason, specks and chips appear, the edges are sagging, and the gloss is lost.

Perhaps the most stable substance popular for growing crystals is table salt.

What can you grow a crystal from in 2019

In addition to the above substances, crystals can be grown from sugar at home.

It is much more difficult, but at the same time more interesting, to grow artificial stones (amethyst, quartzite, rubies, etc.). This is a rather laborious process that requires special equipment to maintain constant temperature, pressure, humidity and other parameters important for the success of the experiment. In other words, to get an artificial stone, you need a real laboratory.

What should be the substance for growing a crystal at home?

Safe, non-toxic. Not all substances with a crystalline structure meet this requirement. For example, potassium cyanide KCN (or sodium sulfide Na 2 S) also forms crystals of its characteristic shape. But it is impossible to carry out experiments with it at home, because it enters into an oxidation reaction with oxygen in the air and releases toxic substances that are dangerous to humans.
The second important quality is stability. That is, the selected substance must enter into a reversible reaction with water. In addition, resistance to temperature fluctuations is important. Some organic matter can be irreversibly destroyed when it gets into hot water (hydrolysis reaction).
The cost of reagents. As you know, the first experiment (or several) may not be very successful, therefore, for a start, it is better to opt for inexpensive and affordable substances.
Yes, growing crystals will need a lot of purified water - this should also be taken care of in advance.
The ability to dissolve in water. Before starting the experiment, you should find out how much the selected substance is required for a given volume of water. To grow a sugar crystal, for example, you need to dissolve at least 2 kg of sugar in 1 liter of water. So it is better to first draw up a graph of the solubility of the starting material. To do this, subtract the mass of the same volume of the filtered solution from the mass of a glass of water after the dissolution is completed and the temperature stabilizes. This will help you get an idea of \u200b\u200bhow much substance is needed for crystallization for a given volume of water.

How to grow a crystal of table salt

The easiest way to practice is with regular table salt. Then you don't need special chemical reagents, only salt and purified water.

Step 1. Prepare a crystal of salt by tying it with a thin thread fixed in the middle of a small stick (pencil, pen).

Purpose: to place the crystal so that it is immersed in the solution, but does not come into contact with the surface of the vessel.

Tie a crystal of salt to a thread and place it in a glass

Step 2. Pour warm water into a container (transparent so that you can observe the growth of the crystal) and add salt. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved. Then add salt and repeat. It is necessary to salt the water until the salt stops dissolving. This is noticeable by the appearance of sediment at the bottom of the vessel.

Step 3. The solution must be gradually heated by placing it in a container with a larger diameter with hot water. As a result, the precipitate will dissolve. If there is something left at the bottom, it is better to pour the solution into a clean container.

Step 4. Place the container with the resulting solution in a place with a stable temperature. Immerse the crystal-nucleus on a thread into the solution. From above, the vessel with the solution must be covered with paper.

Step 5. The crystallization process has started. Then, when the water evaporates, it will be necessary to add a solution of the same salt content to the container as it was at the beginning of the experiment. After a while, it will become noticeable that the original crystal has increased in size. You can grow it as much as you like, as long as there is enough capacity and patience. The resulting crystal will be fairly durable.

How to grow a sugar crystal

Sugar crystals can be used as table decoration or candy canes for children. But they are quite expensive due to the high consumption of sugar. For 2 glasses of water, you will eventually need 5 glasses of granulated sugar.

Sugar crystals

The process for preparing a solution is similar to how it is done for salt crystals. It is most convenient to grow sugar crystals with toothpicks or wooden skewers. For the "seed" it is enough to dip the skewer in syrup and dip in sugar so that it adheres evenly to the surface. You need to wait a while for the sugar to stick well and dry.

To form colored crystals, add food coloring to the syrup (juices are the best option).

It takes 1 week to grow a sugar crystal from the specified amount of ingredients.

Sugar crystals on sticks (Video)

This video shows you how to grow edible crystals from sugar that are not only beautiful to look at, but also delicious.

How to grow a copper sulfate crystal

Salt crystals are transparent white, while copper sulfate gives a deep blue hue.

Growing such a crystal is no more difficult than growing a salt crystal: you need a saturated solution and a crystal-nucleus on a thread.

Copper sulfate crystal suspended on a string

The solution in a transparent container should be placed in a shaded place with a stable temperature, the crystal should be suspended as in the case of salt, and wait, periodically adding the solution instead of the evaporated one.

The crystal must not be removed from the working solution until the procedure for its formation is completed!

Safety engineering

Food utensils cannot be used to grow crystals (with the exception of experiments with salt and sugar). You should not leave food nearby: firstly, because the reagents are toxic, and secondly, because of litter and crumbs, which, if they get into the solution, will ruin the experiment.

When handling chemical reagents, absolutely all the rules indicated on the package should be observed. After finishing work, you need to wash your hands.

Growing a crystal at home is quite simple, interesting and informative. It is best to practice with the available substances first. If something goes wrong, you need to check that all the conditions necessary for the formation of a crystal are met. Having mastered the simplest crystals, you can start working with other reagents. It never gets boring, because different substances give crystals of different shapes and colors. In addition, there are no two absolutely identical crystals, and their configuration and size can be adjusted at will.

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Crystals can be grown from almost any substance. Crystals are obtained from proteins, iodine, and various metals. Not many people know that crystals can be obtained even from air by cooling it to a certain temperature. However, in an ordinary environment, crystals are most easily grown from inorganic salts. In this article, we will consider a method for growing crystals from copper sulfate, which is easy to find and purchase.

First of all, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the experience process in the video

What do we need:
- copper sulfate;
- glass;
- hot water;
- plate;
- cardboard;
- colorless nail polish

The very first thing to do before starting to grow a crystal is to make a seed, that is, a crystal that is subsequently dipped into the solution. This crystal will grow in the future. The seed should be about the size of a pea.

First, take a glass and add about half or a third of the salt to it.

Then we pour hot water into our glass, and mix everything thoroughly.

It is quite easy to check if enough salt has been poured. To do this, you need to continue to pour salt until it stops dissolving.

After the salt has ceased to dissolve and the solution has become as saturated as possible, it must be filtered, since usually the salts contain impurities of various insoluble substances.

After the solution is filtered, you need to throw a small amount of small crystals on the bottom and leave this glass for a day so that large crystals form at the bottom.

After 24 hours, large crystals are formed at the bottom of the glass, the size of which is quite suitable for seeding.

We pour the solution into another glass, since we need to pick out the resulting mass of crystals. To do this, take a knife and pick out the accreted mass of crystals at the bottom of the glass.

Pour the crystals into a plate and choose the smoothest and largest crystal.

After we have chosen the largest and most "successful" crystal, it must be tied with a thread.

You also need to take a piece of cardboard and make a simple system, as shown in the picture below.

We hang the crystal in a glass with a solution. The system of a piece of cardboard, which is used by the author, and also which we offer, allows you to provide the most efficient environment for growing crystals. Thanks to this system, dust does not enter the glass.

Crystal growth takes a lot of time and patience.

Today we will learn with you how to grow crystals at home. In general, this is not so difficult to do as it might seem at first glance. Especially in the modern world. Literally 10-15 years ago, not every child could grow a crystal at home. But now everyone has this opportunity. As a rule, parents are engaged in this entertaining activity together with their children "from the cradle". After all, crystallization is a very beautiful and interesting process. Kids love him. And for schoolchildren, this phenomenon helps explain chemical phenomena. But how do you grow crystals at home? Let's try to figure it out with you in this difficult issue.

What are crystals

To begin with, it is worth understanding what we will be dealing with at all. That is, any person should know what exactly he wants to grow. Crystallization is a very beautiful phenomenon. But what is a crystal?

This object originally meant frozen water, or ice in a simple way. Now it is a solid body in which the constituents (atoms) are arranged according to a certain pattern, but in a chaotic order. And in the course of this action, they form the so-called crystal lattice.

And in simple terms, it is just a solid and beautiful pebble of some three-dimensional shape, which under a microscope has a special structure. That is, the crystal lattice. Crystals are often considered to be iridescent particles that sparkle in the sun. A kind of sediment formed during the evaporation of a substance. And now we will try to understand how to grow crystals at home. It's not that hard. The main thing is to properly prepare for the process.

Security measures

Regardless of what kind of material for crystallization we will use, there are certain rules of behavior. They will have to be followed without fail. Especially if copper sulfate is used as a crystallization material. Let's quickly find out what you can and cannot do if you want to figure out how to grow a crystal at home.

Let's start with the fact that we need dishes. And it will not be possible to use it for domestic needs, or rather, for food purposes. Even after disinfection. You can simply get poisoned. In principle, when it comes to sugar or the most common salt, then you can really rinse the dishes thoroughly after use, and then use for any purpose. The main thing is not to touch these containers in cases where copper sulfate or something else is used as a material.

You cannot eat during the process. This can cause poisoning. And then playing with crystallization will turn into a huge problem. It is best to wait for the action to complete if potentially hazardous substances are used.

It is prohibited to work with substances that you do not know about. Indeed, with some materials, you will have to follow special rules of conduct. Otherwise, you run the risk of causing a lot of problems for yourself and your body.

How to grow crystals at home? To do this, you will have to find and assign a special place for this activity. One where no one will bother you. And where very small children and pets will not get to the reagents, as well as directly to the crystals. Especially in cases of copper sulfate and any other chemicals. Exceptions are sugar and salt.

Basics of action

How to grow a crystal at home? For this, to be honest, it is important to know the working methodology and the crystallization process. What are these actions based on? In general, if you want to make a homemade crystal, you will have to prepare for the fact that you will need to prepare a special concentrated solution.

This is what home "crystal growing" is based on. That is, in order to grow such a "little thing" at home, in any case you need a special concentrated solution with the material of your choice. Sometimes dyes can be added to it in order to obtain a colored crystal. It is very beautiful and interesting.

In principle, it is already more or less clear how to grow a crystal at home from salt or sugar, for example. We need a concentrated solution. And in fact, a place that will be overgrown with crystals. Let's find out several options for the development of events that will help to carry out crystallization at home extremely quickly and easily.

Evaporation

Let's start with the simplest and least popular scenario. If you want to grow a crystal at home, then you will need water and a reagent. For example, salt. Plain, cookery. The sea may also be suitable. In other words, any salt for food production.

What should be done now? To begin with, warm up the liquid a little. Now add salt to the water. Make sure your solution is concentrated. That is, approximately 2-3 tablespoons of salt are needed for a glass of water. Stir the "brew" until completely dissolved. Now all that remains is to leave the concentrated salt water in a warm place for a while. Moreover, in a ventilated space. As soon as all the water evaporates, you have a precipitate - salt crystals.

If you want to quickly see the effect, you can start evaporating the water - boil it. Most importantly, do this process with care. But it's better to just be patient. So we learned how to grow a crystal at home from salt. By the way, from sugar too. This method is not very good. After all, it simply forms a precipitate as crystals. For this reason, there are several other approaches to solving our problem.

Ready set

How to grow a crystal at home? In truth, there are several ways to do this. One, not the most popular, we have already studied. Now let's move on to more interesting methods. Especially among the youngest children.

In order to figure out how to grow a crystal from sugar, salt or any other substance quickly and without problems, you just need to go to any toy store and buy a special play set called "Crystallization" there. Or something like that.

In the box you will find everything you need to carry out the process - and a special container into which the liquid is poured, and the reagent, and dyes (if needed), and even special forms on which crystals will be placed. For example, a tree or a flower. Very interesting options on which different dyes are applied directly to the molds. That is, as it grows, you will be able to see multi-colored crystals on various areas of the craft.

What do we have to do? The same as last time - mix water with a reagent, and then lower the mold into it and put it in a warm place. How to grow sugar crystals at home (or salt crystals) using the play set? The most popular option for the development of events is not directly lowering the template in concentrated water, but pouring it onto a mold. That is, you will need to collect, for example, a stable Christmas tree-template, put it in a special deep form (it is attached) - in something like a flower pot, and then pour a concentrated solution into it and leave everything like this. For a while, of course. About a day, maximum two.

After the specified period of time has passed, look at your craft. It will be covered with various crystals of sugar or salt. Just be careful - such formations break down and fall off very easily. After all, they will be small and fragile. Now we know how to grow a crystal at home from sugar or salt, and even describing some form. But there are other ways that will help us in solving this problem. Let's get to know them.

From salt

For example, there is another very interesting approach to solving this problem. How to grow salt crystals at home? To do this, we need salt (table salt, including in pieces), water and special strings. Better to take twine. A crystal will settle on it. Let us now get down to business with you as quickly as possible.

Heat the water. It is not necessary to bring to a boil. Now start adding salt to it and stirring. It is worth continuing the procedure until a concentrated solution is obtained. That is, until the salt begins to settle on the bottom of the dish. During this period, it is best to keep the water warm without boiling. When you have achieved the desired result, simply pour the liquid into another form. Make sure you don't have any sediment at the bottom.

Next, you need to take a string or thread and tie a piece of table salt to one end of it. So that it does not fall and slip. Is it done? Hang the other end of the string over a glass of concentrated salt water, and then dip a piece of salt into it so that it does not touch the bottom and walls of the dish. You just have to wait a while. Of course, this process will be slow - it will take about 2-3 days for a normal crystal to form. Moreover, the thread that you hung up will also begin to become covered with small crystals in a chaotic manner, forming a beautiful pattern.

That's all the problems are solved. We now know how to grow a crystal at home from sugar or table / sea salt. As you can see, nothing difficult. The main thing is to be able to wait. True, this is not all the options for the development of events. Now we will try with you to grow crystals from sugar again, and also try to figure out how to grow a crystal from vitriol.

Sugar dream

Well, in the case of salt, we can have a special material prepared that will help crystallize. In our example, this is a large piece of table salt. But with sugar such a "number" will not work. We cannot break off a piece from it, like from salt. Therefore, the process of sugar crystallization will be slightly different. How to grow a sugar crystal at home? Let's figure it out.

To begin with, there are two options for the development of events. The first is when we will force a ready-made solid crystal to grow, the second is when some material begins to be covered by these "objects". Let's start with a familiar approach.

How to grow a crystal at home? Photos of this process are now very popular. And the results of growing too. But how is this procedure done using sugar? To begin with, slightly (this is important) heat the water, and then mix it with sugar until you get a concentrated solution. Now, as last time, pour the "brew" into another container with the sediment filtering out. Is it done? Then tie some crystal (solid, but not salt) to a thread or wire. For example, sodium sulfate. Dip it in sugar water and then just wait for a while. Your crystal will grow and will be composed of sugar.

In the second case, you can do without sulfate. That is, simply lower the thread or wire (preferably a string or floss) into the solution and hang it in this position. Leave it as it is for a few days and then see the result. Don't be afraid to lower the rope deeply. Now we know how to grow a crystal from sugar at home. Let's get acquainted with another rather interesting way that we have not yet gone through.

Vitriol

Of course, now is the time to think about how to grow a crystal at home from copper sulfate. This material is also salt. Only chemically active. And so the cultivation procedure will change slightly. But insignificantly.

What do we need? For starters, the reagent itself. That is, copper sulfate. Both in "free-flowing" form and crystal. Be prepared for it to turn out to be blue. What a stroke of luck - a natural colored crystal without the use of dyes! Next, prepare a thread, and then tie a piece of vitriol to one end. Tie the other on a stick that will act as a holder. It seems that the process is not much different from working with salt or sugar. But that's just for now. The most interesting is ahead.

What are we talking about? Of course, about water. When working with copper sulfate, you will have to use only distilled water. That is, cleaned of sediments, impurities and salts. Only in this case can one hope for the success of the operation. Mix the remaining vitriol with warm distilled water, filter it, and then lower the crystal and thread into the mold with liquid. Wait a while. That's all. Now we know how to grow a crystal in 1 day at home.

True, there are not only rules of conduct regarding the procedure, but also a few tips. They will help you achieve maximum and good results. What are we talking about?

For example, do not remove the crystal from the solution unnecessarily. Otherwise, the crystallization process will be interrupted. And, of course, the experience will fail. In order to look at your work, you can use transparent containers - through them you will observe how the crystal grows.

Make sure that no debris or any impurities get into the concentrated solution. If there are any, try to remove them carefully. Did not work out? Then leave everything as it is. Just do not "disturb" a suspended crystal or a rope dipped in a solution. This will also hurt the process.

For best results, always use distilled water. It has already been cleared of impurities and salts. And this means that your solution will be as concentrated and high quality as possible.

Conclusion

Today we have learned how to grow crystals at home with you. As you can see, this process is not as difficult as it might seem at the very beginning. The exercise of caution during the procedure is an important element of it. Otherwise, the crystal cannot grow.

If you are just getting acquainted with this process, then start with ready-made play sets for crystallization. In it you can find a lot of useful things that can teach you how to grow original crystals at home without any difficulty. The main thing is to fantasize and follow the safety rules during the experiment. Now you know how to grow a crystal at home from salt, vitriol and other materials.

Modern man has become capable of many things: nanotechnology, artificial insemination, the study of distant galaxies. What can we say then about growing minerals at home. Yes, yes, each of us today can grow a real crystal in our kitchen without laboratory equipment and scientific knowledge. All that is required is ingenuity, patience and a few materials at hand.

Crystals, regardless of whether they are natural or artificial, amaze with their beauty, versatility and unusualness. That is why interest in growing crystals at home is growing. They are grown in the most unusual shapes and colors, using simple ingredients such as salt, soda, citric acid, dyes, etc.

You can grow the most beautiful and unique crystal for yourself using different methods, choosing the one that you like best. There are even special kits on sale for fans of home experiments, with the help of which it is possible to obtain crystals of simply incredible shapes.

Here are some photos of finished crystals by amateur chemists posting on the network:

Video how to grow radiant crystals

To understand the essence and get the most fantastic crystal, you should watch a detailed video tutorial, and only then start the unusual process of growing crystals.

How to grow crystals

Growing home crystals is a simple and fun process if you study the rules of the experiment in advance and prepare the necessary materials. The only negative is that the crystal grows for a long time, on average, it takes at least a month.

The formation of the crystal lattice, its growth rate, color, density - all this depends on the quality of the prepared solution, the chosen dishes, and the humidity of the external environment. These details must be handled responsibly. But the first thing to start with is the selection of inventory.

To grow a beautiful crystal you need:

Capacity for the crystal. This is a kind of incubator that must comply with the rules: it must not oxidize, give off color, or deplete odor. The best option is glass or enameled dishes. We exclude metal, earthen, plastic vessels immediately. As for the size - there are no restrictions: it is important what size you need a crystal.
Stick for stirring the solution. Here again the emphasis is on the material - choose wood or glass.
Paper. When growing, you will need good quality white wipes or filter paper.
The main component for the solution. It can be table salt, sugar, soda, or something else. You select this product in accordance with the selected recipe.

Although solutions of different substances are used to grow crystals, the essence of the process itself is almost identical in all recipes.

The basic growing algorithm is as follows:

The salt or other ingredient is dissolved in hot water to form a concentrated solution.
The seed base for the crystal (it can be a large lump of salt) is washed in water and immersed in the prepared solution.
The container with the solution is tightly closed. Remove the lid after about 24 hours. Around 3-4 weeks a large crystal will already be visible.
As soon as the top of the crystal emerges on the surface of the solution, the liquid is drained, and the crystal is carefully removed from the container.
Then the crystal is dried and kept in a place protected from water and admired its beauty.

How to grow a vitriol crystal at home, step by step instructions

If you don't surprise anyone with a colorless crystal, then a bright blue crystal will definitely become a real surprise. To create such beauty, a special ingredient is used - copper sulfate. It produces a brighter and more natural shade of blue than food coloring.

This substance is sold in garden supply stores. It is a chemical substance, so it is not suitable for creativity with children.

If you follow the instructions below, in a couple of weeks you will have a gorgeous dark blue crystal:

Pour distilled water into a glass container.
Dissolve the copper sulfate powder in it until the granules stop dissolving in water.

Dip a simple thread into the solution, fixing one edge above the container. Wait a few hours for small crystals to form on the thread.
Choose the one that you like best and leave it on the thread, and detach the rest and put it aside.

Lower the thread with the crystal back into the solution, fixing the structure so that it does not touch the bottom of the container. Give the crystal a few weeks and it will grow up, turning blue.
After removing the crystal from the water, dry it and cover it with a colorless varnish to ensure its safety.

How to grow salt crystal quickly

Crystals grow well from salt, but most recipes suggest using plain table salt. Of course, it works, but if you are not patient or you need a crystal as soon as possible, we advise you to use sea salt. It will not only accelerate the rate of formation of the crystal array, but also make it much stronger. But, no matter what kind of salt you take, the appearance of the crystal will remain unchanged - it will be large, white, slightly transparent, and, of course, it will resemble fancy salt.

Let's start growing a salt crystal:

Take boiled spring or filtered water, pour it into a glass jar.
Stir a lot of sea salt in it, and when its crystals refuse to dissolve, strain the solution through cheesecloth.

Pour the solution back into the jar, select a large salt crystal, tie a string to it and dip it into the solution. Then cool the solution quickly (this will accelerate the formation of small crystals on the base).

Wait from a week to a month, depending on the size of the crystal you need.
Wipe it dry with a napkin, polish it if desired.

How to grow a crystal from sugar

Sugar crystals are not just a masterpiece of home art, but also an unusual delicacy. Just imagine that you become the creator of edible crystals! Just remember to use the highest quality products.

So, let's begin:

Prepare simple sugar, food coloring if desired, and you will also need wooden sticks, water and a few napkins.

Take 2 tbsp. water and 5 tbsp. sugar, but we will not use them right away. In a saucepan, heat ¼ tbsp. water and 2 tbsp. l. sugar - you get a sweet syrup.
Put a handful of sugar on a clean napkin and roll the sticks dipped in the syrup in it. Make sure that the sugar sticks tightly to the entire stick, otherwise the crystal will be asymmetrical.

Let the prepared sticks dry well so that the sugar does not fall off.
While the blanks are drying, take a saucepan, send 2.5 tbsp into it. sugar and 2 tbsp. water, boil the syrup. When all the sugar has dissolved, pour in the rest of the sugar and boil the syrup for 15 minutes.
Take several sheets of paper in a square shape. Pierce them with chopsticks in the middle.

Then quickly pour the syrup into glasses, drop a few drops of multi-colored food coloring into each of them and immediately immerse the sticks in them. The workpiece must not reach the bottom or touch the glass walls.
Thanks to the sheet, the stick will be securely fixed, in addition, the paper will be a shield that protects the syrup from the saw and moisture.

Your crystals will grow in 7-14 days and will be quite edible even for kids. True, provided that natural dyes were used.

How to grow a citric acid crystal

To grow a crystal, you will need about 180 g of citric acid for every 100 g of water. Let's make a reservation right away that the process is more complicated than in the case of using salt or sugar.

Growing process:

In water (100 ml) with a temperature of 20 ВC, dissolve citric acid (130 g). During operation, the container with the solution will need to be slightly warmed up so that the temperature is stably kept at 20⁰С. To do this, you can use another container of hot water in which you can immerse a glass of citric acid. It is advisable to control the process with a thermometer.
Then, within a week, you need to add citric acid, until it stops dissolving. For this, the remaining 50 g of citric acid is enough. The solution will look like a thick jelly, and small crystals will appear at the bottom.
At this stage, strain the solution. Wrap one crystal with a fishing line and immerse it in the seed solution.
After 7-10 days, the crystal will reach 10-12 cm in diameter. You can stretch it out, dry it and varnish it, or continue growing it.

A citric acid crystal is very sensitive to temperature extremes and can crack, so it must be grown in stable climatic conditions.

How to grow a colored crystal

If growing crystals from food has already been successfully mastered, you can swing at a homemade ruby. Of course, it will not be real, but no less attractive and bright. The chemical substance Hexacyanoferrate (III) potassium, which is popularly called red blood salt, will help to obtain such a stone. You can buy the substance without any problems in an online store or a store with goods for the chemical industry. The crystal grows for about three weeks. At your discretion, you can grow a single crystal or a garden from many small crystals.

The process of growing home rubies:

Boil 175 ml of water, dissolve 100 g of red blood salt in it. The water temperature should not be lower than 90⁰С.

Now, if you need a single crystal, take a small crystal of ordinary salt, wrap a fishing line around it, use a wooden stick or a pencil to fix the fishing line with the crystal on the glass so that it is immersed in the solution.
If you want to grow a crystal garden, take a smooth pebble, preferably a granite one, and lower it to the bottom of a bowl with a solution.
The crystal will grow every day. After three weeks, the crystal will begin to "peep" out of the water. At this point, it must be removed from the container, dried and covered with nail polish.
It is important to remember that red crystals are very fragile, so you need to work with them as carefully as possible.

How to grow a beautiful crystal

You can quickly grow a crystal of a beautiful regular shape from aluminum alum. If you do not know what it is, we will clarify: this is a drug (double salts) for stopping external bleeding and stopping the inflammatory process. It is sold in a pharmacy and costs a couple of rubles.

The process is pretty simple:

To get started, buy the necessary drug at the pharmacy. It looks like this:

Boil 0.5 liters of water, dissolve 6 tbsp. l. alum.
Now all that remains is to wait. The main thing is, until the crystals grow, do not disturb them: do not stir the solution, do not shake the container.
After a week, the crystals will noticeably grow:

Now select a seed crystal, make a hole in it, fix the thread, the other end of which is tied to the stick.

Dip the base crystal into the solution and wait 1-2 weeks. Its octahedral shape will remain the same, but the size of the crystal will increase significantly.
You will get this exclusive pendant:

How to grow a crystal in two days

It is impossible to grow a correct crystal with beautiful edges from improvised substances in 1-2 days. In the best case, you will end up with many small crystals fused into one fancy figure. But you can easily solve such a dilemma - buy a ready-made kit for growing crystals in two days. You can find it in any art store. The process is clear and accessible even for children. How to grow a radiant crystal in 48 hours will tell the video:

How to grow a crystal on a string

You will need baking soda to grow crystals on a string. Before starting the process, make sure all work surfaces are clean, as even the smallest speck can spoil all your efforts. For work you will need two glass glasses, a pack of soda, woolen thread, boiling water.

Soda crystals on a string - growing:

Fill the prepared glasses halfway with boiling water. Send 6 tsp to each of them. soda.
When the soda dissolves, add another 3 tsp. powder and so on until it stops dissolving.
Take a thread 35 cm long, fasten it with a paper clip at its ends. Put glasses with soda solution in one row, placing a saucer between them, immerse the ends of the thread in glasses.

How to grow a crystal in an hour

How to grow a crystal from potassium permanganate

From potassium permanganate, diamond-shaped crystals of a beautiful deep purple hue grow. The cultivation process is the same as when using salt or sugar. But the crystals are much more interesting.

How to grow:

Take 100 ml of water. Its temperature must be at least 20⁰С.
Dissolve 6-7 g of potassium permanganate in this amount.
When the solution is smooth, dip the salt crystal fixed on the line into it.
Now, as usual, wait a few weeks while watching the purple crystal grow.

How to grow a green crystal

Knowing the basics of chemistry, it is not difficult to grow an exclusive green home crystal. Of course, the easiest way is to buy a special set in a store, but we suggest going the other way and doing a real experiment.

Cultivation:

In the Garden and City store, buy Ammophos fertilizer based on ammonium dihydrogen phosphate. This substance will be the seed for growing a large crystal.
Take a small ball of Styrofoam and wrap it with woolen thread like a ball.

Sprinkle the Ammophos powder over the ball to create large crystals. Dip the balloon into an empty glass.

In another glass, send 40 g of Ammophos and 10 g of green food coloring, pour 50 g of boiling water, mix everything and pour into a glass with a ball.
It is important to pour liquid along the edge of the container so as not to wash off the Ammophos solution from our ball. You need to fill the glass by ¾ as the ball will float to the surface (this is an important condition).
Now make a cylinder from A4 paper sheet, put it on a glass, cover the structure with a napkin on top.
Already on the fifth day, you will grow an excellent crystal.

Growing crystals at home will be something special for each of you. Someone will get carried away with an unusual hobby, collecting their own collection of crystals, someone will have fun with children, and someone will improve their knowledge of chemistry. But, in any case, you will have an educational time. Happy experiments!

natural crystals of rhinestone

Special conditions are needed for their education. For example, a rock granite consists of crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica, which crystallized one after another when the magma cooled.

Beautiful hexagonal crystals of rock crystal have grown from hot aqueous solutions saturated with silica SiO 2.

natural crystals of sulfur

Rhombic yellow crystals sulfur grew from hydrogen sulfide waters of hot springs and geysers.

On the shores of salt lakes and seas, you can see cubic crystals of rock salt - halite; white, red, yellow and even blue crystals of carnallite and mirabilite.

Diamonds, the hardest crystals, formed under tremendous pressure in the so-called explosion tubes (kimberlite tubes).

So, nature has created and continues to create crystals of minerals. Can we see the mystery of crystal growth? Can we grow them ourselves? Yes of course we can. And now I will tell you how to do it at home.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SALT

Grown Salt Crystals

In order to grow crystals of table (rock) salt (halite - NaCl), you need to put a container of water on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Then remove the container from the stove and dissolve the usual salt from the pack in it. Continuously stirring the solution, add salt until you notice that it no longer dissolves.

The resulting salty solution must be filtered and poured into a flat dish, for example, in a saucer. The water will cool down and begin to evaporate, and on the edges of the saucer and on its bottom you will see transparent cubes of the correct shape - these are crystals of rock salt, halite.

You can grow a large crystal, or several large cubic crystals. To do this, a woolen thread should be lowered into the container in which you dissolved the salt. When the solution cools, it will be covered with salt cubes. The slower the solution cools, the more regular crystals will be. After a while, growth will stop.

To grow one large crystal, you need to choose the most correct one from the many crystals formed at the bottom, put it on the bottom of a clean glass, and pour a solution from the previous dishes on top.

Rest is necessary for the growth of the right crystals. Do not shake or move a table or shelf on which a container with growing crystals stands.

HOW TO GROW A SUGAR CRYSTAL

You can grow sugar crystals in the same way as salt crystals. Sugar crystals can also be grown on wooden sticks and can be a beautiful addition to any festive sweet dish. Food colors added to the solution will color the sugar in all the colors of the rainbow.

Sugar crystals

Below is a complete instruction, how to grow sugar crystals on sticks.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM A COPPER CORE

Copper sulfate is sold in shops for gardeners, from it, and from slaked lime, they prepare "Bordeaux liquid" to protect plants from fungi and various diseases.

In order to grow a crystal of copper sulfate (Cu SO 4 * 5H 2 O) of the correct shape, you should dissolve powdered copper sulfate in water at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures, the solubility of copper sulfate decreases. Dissolve the powder until the dissolution stops. At the end of the wire or woolen thread we attach a seed - a small crystal of the same copper sulfate. Where can I get it? You can look for a larger crystal in the same package from which you poured vitriol into the water. If this is not found, leave your solution to cool, and after a while you will see small crystals at the bottom.

Pick one and tie (or glue) it to a wire or thread. Filter the solution. Then dip the prepared seed (crystal on thread) into it. Never immerse the seed in the hot solution! The seed can simply dissolve. A large crystal of copper sulfate grows for several weeks. The crystal, grown to the desired size, must be varnished, since the moisture contained in the air will eventually lead to its melting and destruction.

Grown in the same way, you can read a detailed article about this by following the link in this sentence.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM POTASSIUM ALUM

grown crystals of potassium alum

Potassium alum (KAI 2 * 12H 2 O - mineral alunite ) sold in the pharmacy in powder form. This is a good remedy that "dries the skin" and kills pathogens, this substance does not cause allergies and it is not toxic. Good crystals can be grown from potassium alum powder; the alum should be dissolved in warm water until saturation and filtered. After a few days in a calm place at room temperature, small crystals will appear at the bottom of the container.

potassium alum (burnt alum) can be bought at the pharmacy

From these crystals, you need to choose several pieces of the correct shape and place them in another container. Then they are poured with the same solution. You can hang the seeds on thin threads (they can be glued to the thread with strong waterproof glue). Once every two or three days, the crystals must be transferred to a new glass, and the solution is filtered and the growing crystals are again poured over them. Crystals of alum, grown to the desired size, should be varnished so that they do not melt from moisture in the air and do not lose their shape.

It is desirable to prepare solutions for growing crystals with distilled water.

At home, you can get an artificial malachiteusing copper sulfate and washing soda, but it will not be beautiful crystals or an openwork patterned stone, but a green or dirty green sediment at the bottom of the vessel (powder). Beautiful malachite, which practically does not differ from natural, can be obtained only on industrial equipment.

The factories also grow crystals of many minerals. But at home it is impossible to repeat this, for this you need special equipment. Most crystals (quartz, amethyst, ruby, emerald, diamonds, malachite, garnets, etc.) are grown in cast-iron autoclaves under high pressure. Temperatures reach 500-1000 degrees, and pressure - 3000 atmospheres.

Crystal Growing Kits

crystal growing kit

Now in toy stores, in large cities, kits for growing crystals have appeared on sale. From powders dihydrogen phosphate of ammonium and potassium, to which dyes are added, interesting prismatic and needle-like crystals can be grown. In order for the crystals to be large and beautiful enough, you must strictly follow the attached instructions.

Strangely, the instructions in the box shown in the photo do not indicate which chemical is used to grow the crystals and which dye is used. Otherwise, it is quite detailed.