How to make a sea salt crystal. We make a crystal from salt at home without special reagents

Growing salt crystals at home is an opportunity not only to quickly observe how similar phenomena occur in nature with other materials, but also to get an unusual craft as a result.

At the same time, such a process is completely safe and does not require any deep knowledge of chemistry or any reagents, any person in the house has all the objects and substances.

How to grow salt crystals at home: material and equipment

1. The first and most basic ingredient is salt.. For the success of the crystal growth process, it is important that it be as pure as possible. Therefore, it is worth giving preference to sea salt, because. there is too much rubbish in the kitchen. It is also not recommended to purchase salt with dyes or other additives.

2. Water, which should also be as free as possible from impurities. If it is not possible to use distilled, then it is worth at least pre-filtering it.

3. Non-metal crystal growth container. Its size can be limited only by the desired crystal size. Important requirements - the container material should not color the water or oxidize under the influence of salts. The container should be washed thoroughly. Any foreign objects inside, even if they are small specks, can become the basis for growth for other small crystals, slowing down the growth of the main one.

4. A small crystal of salt from a pack, piece of branch, leaf, wire, thread or any other object for the basis of the future large crystal. A suitable large piece of salt is easy to find in an almost empty salt shaker. Small particles from it fall out during use, while large ones do not crawl through the holes and remain inside. It is necessary to choose the largest and having a shape as close as possible to a parallelepiped.

5. Something non-metallic to stir the solution - wooden stick, plastic or ceramic spoon, etc.

6. Filter paper or gauze.

7. Paper napkins or toilet paper .

8. Lacquer to cover the finished crystal.

9. Patience. It is not enough to know how to grow crystals from salt at home, you must also be able to wait. A more or less decent-sized crystal will form no earlier than in 3-4 weeks.

As you can see, no complex or expensive equipment is required. All these items and substances are easy to find in the household of absolutely any person.

How to grow crystals from salt at home: a sequence of steps

The technology for obtaining a crystal from salt is very simple, in addition, the process requires very little human participation, basically it takes only time. capacity with clean water put in warm water (50-60 degrees, no more), and salt is gradually poured into it, constantly stirring the solution. When it becomes saturated, i.e. there will already be so much salt in it that it will not be able to dissolve further, it is poured into a clean container so that the sediment from the old one does not get into it. You can even further purify the solution from impurities by passing it through filter paper or gauze folded several times.

It is possible to achieve the desired water temperature for heating the solution even in the absence of a thermometer. To do this, mix freshly boiled boiling water and water at room temperature in a ratio of approximately 1 to 2.

For traditional form crystal it will be a large grain of salt, which is easy to find in any pack;

For an elongated crystal, a thread is lowered into the solution so that it does not touch the walls and bottom;

If you want to get a crystal of a complex and bizarre design, then a small twig or curved wire is hung on a thread.

Knowing how to grow salt crystals at home, you can not limit your imagination to objects that are simple in shape. To get not just a crystal, but a really original craft, as a base, you can put a wire bent in the form of a star, a snowflake, or another similar simple shape into the solution. In principle, you can use absolutely any object that is not subject to oxidation from salts.

Next, the container is covered with a lid, a napkin, a sheet of paper, and in general anything, just to protect the solution from dust and foreign objects. A container with a growing crystal should be stored in a dark, cool place without drafts. Strong mechanical influences on it should not be allowed - too frequent movements, shaking, etc., as well as regular and significant changes in temperature or humidity, i.e. for example, you definitely shouldn’t place a crystal in the bathroom, as well as near the stove in the kitchen or near heating appliances.

Naturally, the more the crystal grows, the less salt remains in the surrounding water. Therefore, to speed up the process about once a week - ten days, it is necessary to add a new salt-saturated solution to the container. And if the crystal has already grown out of an old glass or jar, it can be transferred to a larger one, trying not to drop or break it, because. he is very fragile.

The crystal taken out of the solution is dried from the remnants of water, gently blotting with a soft cloth or an ordinary paper towel. This must be done very carefully, because the crystal is not very strong. For safety, the crystal is covered with household or manicure colorless varnish. If this is not done, then the life of this beautiful object will be short-lived. In dry air, the remaining water will quickly evaporate, and it will crumble into powder, and with excessive humidity, on the contrary, it will absorb excess liquid and spread into a shapeless pile of individual small crystals or even into gruel.

Salt will make crystals white color.

If you want other shades, then you can:

Use a different type of salt (for example, copper sulfate for a deep blue color);

Coat the finished crystal not with a transparent, but with a colored coating;

Add food colorings to the solution at the stage of preparing the crystal, for example, those used in baking or for Easter eggs. However, such substances cannot give very bright colors.

There will be no fundamental difference in the growth rate and the shape of the finished crystal when using table or sea salt. However, in the second case, the crystal will turn out to be denser in structure and will be more durable.

If the crystal grows slightly in the wrong shape, then the extra areas can be carefully scraped off with a knife or nail file, while remembering that the crystal is very fragile. It is easy to give the crystal the desired shape if you treat those areas whose growth is undesirable with ordinary petroleum jelly or another thick fatty substance. If it needs to be removed, this can be done with acetone or alcohol.

In order for the crystal to split, as if branching in different directions, a small amount of glycerin is added to the solution.

Precautionary measures

Table salt is a substance absolutely harmless to humans, because we eat it every day without any health consequences. Therefore, there is no need to observe any safety precautions when growing a salt crystal.

However, so that foreign objects do not get into the solution, you should at least collect your hair, but it is better to cover it with a scarf, and wash your hands with soap and water or even wear rubber gloves. And if there are scratches or wounds on the hands, it is simply necessary to wear gloves, otherwise the strong saline solution will pinch strongly. Nothing fatal or harmful, but not pleasant. Similarly, it is better to protect hands if salt with dyes is used, and there is a possibility of an allergy to these dyes.

But when working with copper sulphate and other more aggressive salts, it is imperative to take precautions, trying not to inhale the solution, to prevent it from getting on the skin, and also to be in a well-ventilated area and not allow small children or pets to grow crystals . In no case should the containers used for this chemical experiment be used later for receiving or storing food, medicines, personal hygiene items, cosmetics, in general, everything that will subsequently come into direct contact with the human body.

How to grow salt crystals at home: reasons for failure

Why did a piece of salt, taken as a base, dissolve instead of forming a crystal around itself? This means that the salt solution was initially not sufficiently saturated. When preparing it, salt should be added little by little until it no longer dissolves, but precipitates. The graphs of the solubility of these salts in water of a certain temperature that are easily found on the Internet will help you choose the proportions of food and other salts for preparing a solution.

If instead of one, several small crystals suddenly grew in the container, then this indicates foreign impurities in the solution. This can be either insufficiently well-filtered water, or rubbish in salt, or a poorly washed container where the solution was poured.

What is the reason for the insufficiently uniform color of a colored crystal? Perhaps when adding the dye, it was not very thoroughly stirred. And if the crystal is large, and a saline solution was prepared for it several times, then in one of the times the dye was added significantly less or more than in others.

Of course, even knowing how to grow salt crystals at home and following all the recommendations, you can get not quite what you wanted. This is normal, because the conditions in which the growing crystal is placed and the substances used for this may differ. However, over time, you will definitely be able to fill your hand, select the optimal proportions of the components and conditions for crystal growth.

If you gravitate toward chemistry or if you have a home restless child, who wants to do something interesting, then the technology of growing a crystal is simply created for you. Read about how to grow a crystal at home from salt in our article with a photo!

Set of ingredients

Growing is a long process, but as a result you will get an amazing natural crystal that will take its rightful place on the shelf of your crafts.

For cultivation, we need the following ingredients:

• edible salt
• a lot of patience

To make a handsome crystal, use purified water, because it does not contain chlorine and other harmful impurities.

Growing a crystal

Answering the question of how to grow a crystal at home from salt, it is worth saying that the work begins with the preparation of a saline solution:

• take a glass of water and pour it into a small container
• put the poured water into a container bigger size and add water with a temperature of 50-60 C.

To get a liquid of the required temperature, mix half a glass of boiling water with a glass of water at room temperature.

• Now pour 2-3 tbsp. l. salt in a small container, stir and leave for 5 minutes so that the salt particles dissolve in the water. Dissolution will occur by heating the water in a small container.
• Next, you need to add 1-2 tbsp to a small container every 5 minutes. l. salt until the sodium chloride no longer dissolves.

After 2-3 additions, sodium chloride will no longer dissolve in water. It is time to pour the resulting concentrated saline solution into a small container. During transfusion, make sure that undissolved crystals do not penetrate into the new vessel.

Choosing the main crystal

After preparing the saline solution, select a large crystal from the bag of ordinary salt, and then lower it to the bottom of the container with concentrated liquid. All that remains is to send the future crystal to the windowsill and observe its growth, which can last several weeks.

If you want to accelerate the growth of the crystal, then after 3-4 days you can carefully remove it from the container, and then prepare a new solution. The procedure will significantly accelerate the growth of the crystal, because it will receive new material to increase volume. But such actions can destroy the crystal, so it is better to simply add a little salt solution every 2-3 days as the liquid evaporates.

How to grow a crystal from sodium chloride?

When answering the question of how to grow a crystal at home from salt, it is worth talking about a number of factors that affect the final shape of a salt product:

• If you lower a string to the bottom of a jar with a crystal, then the crystal will form around this impromptu support. To create a support in the middle of the pencil, tie a string and dip it into the solution. Everything, particles of salt will find support on their own.
• If the salt solution is cooled quickly, the crystal will form sooner, but its shape will be ugly. With gradual cooling of the liquid, the formation of the crystal will be longer, and the shape will be perfect.

• Do not shake the jar with the crystal, so as not to disturb its formation.
• Do not add dyes to the saline liquid, because they will only slow down the formation of the crystal.
• After making the crystal, you can use it to decorate the interior, because salt absorbs odors, harmful fumes and radiation from electrical appliances!

Crystal… From this word it really blows with magic. I don’t know about the magical properties of crystals, but a variety of useful physical properties they definitely have. Crystals are widely used in modern electronics, optics, and other fields of technology. And, of course, the crystals are simply beautiful. They attract the eye with their regular shape and natural symmetry. And this applies not only to precious crystals, but also to crystals grown from improvised means.

We already know something about the crystalline state of matter from the article on. It's time to move on to practical exercises 🙂

The crystal growth experiment has a number of features. One of these features is the duration of the experiment. The thing is that a good and beautiful, and, most importantly, a large crystal cannot be grown quickly. This takes time. That is why the experience of growing crystals for nine days developed in the rubric, where you could observe the progress of the process and, perhaps, even conduct your own experiment in parallel. This article is a summary of the information obtained during the experience. So, instructions for those who want to grow a crystal themselves.

For this we need:

• The container in which the crystal will grow. It is best if the container is transparent, such as a glass jar. In this case, it will be convenient to monitor the progress of the process.
• A small piece of cardboard to cut out the container lid
• Funnel
• Filter paper or any material with which it will be possible to filter the solution. You can use a napkin.
• Thread. It is better to take a thinner and smoother thread, for example, silk.
• And, of course, the substance from which we will grow the crystal. Copper sulphate is used in the experiment. A crystal from it should turn out beautiful blue color. In addition, getting blue vitriol is quite simple - it is usually sold in any gardening store. If you could not find blue vitriol or just too lazy to go to the store, then you can use any crystalline substance such as common table salt or sugar.

Before starting the experiment, I must warn you, in case you want to repeat it, about personal safety measures. You will work with chemicals that could harm you. Do not use food containers for your experiment, use protective equipment (gloves, glasses), wash your laboratory glassware thoroughly. If chemicals come into contact with skin or eyes, rinse thoroughly with water. If swallowed, seek medical attention.

Well, with the formalities over, let's get started.

Day 1.

As I said, growing crystals is a procedure that has some peculiarities. Another feature of this experiment, in addition to the duration, is the need to grow the so-called seed, i.e. a small crystal, on the basis of which a large crystal will grow. You can do without a seed, but in this case it is difficult to grow a beautiful single crystal. Therefore, it is better to grow a seed after all, especially since there is nothing complicated in this.

Prepare a saturated solution.

Let's pour a little copper sulphate into a glass container (hereinafter I will talk about copper sulphate, since it is he who is involved in the experiment, but you use the substance that you managed to find).

Pour salt (and copper sulfate is sulfur-copper salt) with a small amount of hot water. The use of hot water is mandatory, because. at elevated temperatures, the solubility of salts increases.

It is better to place the container in a water bath so that the solution does not cool prematurely.

Stir the salt until dissolved, and then add more salt and stir again. We repeat this until the salt ceases to dissolve in water.

Thus, we have obtained a saturated salt solution.

Now the resulting solution must be filtered. This must be done so that no foreign particles, such as dust or impurities, remain in the solution. Foreign particles can serve as additional centers of crystallization, i.e. other crystals will begin to form around them, but we do not need this. At this stage of the experiment, this is not very critical, but later the purity of the solution will be very important.

After filtering, you need to throw a few salt crystals into the solution - seeds will begin to form on them.

Now the container needs to be placed in a place where more or less constant energy will be provided. temperature regime(the window sill is great for this), and cover it with something to prevent foreign matter from entering.

The solution will begin to cool and supersaturate, i.e. salt will begin to become more in solution than it can dissolve at a given temperature. The salt will begin to crystallize, and the grains of salt that we added to the saturated solution will become the centers of crystallization. You will have to wait 2-3 days. After that, we proceed to the next stage of the experiment.

Day 2

It can be seen that crystals began to form at the bottom of the vessel.

Day 3

The crystals have grown. In principle, they are large enough to be used as a seed, but I will try to keep them for another day.

Day 4

Well, enough time has passed, and we have formed a good seed material. It remains to choose the right candidate.

Pretty pretty already, isn't it? But we will not stop there and will continue our experiment.

It seems that the resulting mass of crystals is a monolith, but in fact it is not difficult to separate the crystals.

Try to choose a crystal of the most correct shape. I chose far from the largest available, but I liked its shape the most. The more correct the shape of the seed, the more correct the shape of the crystal will be in the future. To make the dimensions of the seed more clear, I put a match next to it.

Now you need to tie a thread to the seed. As I wrote at the beginning of the article, it is better to take a less fuzzy thread so that side crystals do not form on its protruding fibers. Do not use wire as a hanger.

Now the thread with the seed must be passed through the lid of the container and fixed on the reverse side. You need to fix it so that at any time it is possible to adjust the height of the suspension. For example, you can with reverse side wind the excess thread around a match or secure the thread with a paper clip.

Now we need to prepare a fresh salt solution. It is done in the same way as for the seed: dissolution in hot water salt until it ceases to dissolve, filtering the solution. In this fresh solution we place our seed. Make sure that the seed does not touch the bottom and walls of the container, otherwise the crystal will begin to grow in an irregular shape.

And now we have two ways. The first one is more complex. It requires more attention and effort. The fact is that the most beautiful and regular crystals are obtained when the crystallization process is slow. Therefore, we need to ensure smooth cooling of the salt solution. To do this, we need to place our seed container in thermo-vessels, constantly control the temperature of the solution. talking plain language, fuss quite a lot. But the reward for such efforts is worthwhile - the crystal will turn out to be as clean and regular as possible.

The second way is much easier. You have placed the seed in a hot solution and you can forget about it for a while, leaving the crystallization process to chance. With this method, the growing crystal may not be an ideal shape, but the growth process will be faster.

I chose the second way. In the end, after going down the easier path and gaining some experience, I can always do a more complex version of the experiment. In addition, you need to keep in mind that the quick version of the experience does not mean at all that it can be done in a couple of hours. Even with an accelerated experience, the crystal will grow for several days. In the case of a long-term option, the experiment can stretch for 1-2 months.

But in both cases it is necessary to monitor the growth of the crystal. Once again, you don’t need to take out the crystal and touch it - this may affect its shape. If side crystals begin to form on a crystal or thread, they must be carefully removed so that they also do not spoil the shape of the main crystal.

And one moment. If you lowered the seed into the solution, but it did not increase, but quite the contrary, it dissolves, then this means that you have prepared unsaturated solution. The procedure for preparing the solution will have to be repeated.

So we continue to monitor the growth of the crystal. If you have any questions, you can contact me in the comments or through the form.

Day 5

During the day, the crystal grew significantly. In the photo, the crystal is compared with a match and a crystal - an understudy of the seed, which I left yesterday just in case.

However, as you can see, the shape of the crystal is not ideal, there are many defects. This is the result of the rapid growth of the crystal. But I still like it 🙂

I updated the solution as I did before, and lowered the crystal back into it. Since the crystal size increased significantly compared to the previous day, an adjustment in the height of the seed suspension was required. The experiment continues.

Day 6

Crystal has grown. Again updated the copper sulphate solution.

Day 7

The crystal barely fits into my glass! Do not forget to clean the thread from growing small crystals.

Day 8

Day 9

Well, here comes, I think, the last day of the experiment. The latter is not because the crystal will not be able to grow further, but because it has become too crowded in my laboratory glassware. We take out the crystal, cut the thread to the very root and blot it with napkins. We are one step away from admiring our work of art. The fact is that if you leave the crystal as it is, it will collapse pretty soon. To prevent this from happening, it must be "dressed" in a protective shell. The best option is to cover it with clear varnish. You can also place it in a hermetically sealed container, for example, in a jar. But it seems to me that the best option— is to cover it with varnish. This will give it additional brilliance, and it will be possible to observe it, as they say, live, and not through glass.

And now you can take a good look at the crystal. Of course, his form was not perfect. But I deliberately chose the fast way of crystal growth instead of the qualitative one. In any case, I was pleased with the result. In nine days, the crystal grew more than seven centimeters in length - a pretty good result!

I even wanted to give it a name. Give the same large and unique precious stones names. For example, how the famous diamond was given the name "Count Orlov". My crystal, of course, is far from a diamond, but it is dear to me in its own way 🙂 Therefore, not without a share of humor, I decided to call the resulting seven-centimeter pebble the Kid.

Good luck with your experiments!

Growing crystals- the process is very interesting, but it can be quite lengthy. It is useful to know what processes govern its growth; why do different substances form crystals various shapes, and some do not form them at all; What needs to be done to make them big and beautiful.
If crystallization is very slow, one large crystal is obtained (or a single crystal, for example, when growing artificial stones), if it is fast, then many small ones (or a polycrystal, for example, metals).

Growing crystals at home produce different ways. For example, cooling a saturated solution. Decreases in temperature (mainly anhydrous salt) and they are said to precipitate out. First, tiny seed crystals appear in the solution and on the walls of the vessel. When the cooling is slow, and there are no solid impurities (say, dust) in the solution, few nuclei are formed, and gradually they turn into beautiful crystals of the correct shape. During rapid cooling, many small crystals appear, almost none of them has correct form, because there are a lot of them and they interfere with each other.

Growing crystals can be done in another way - the gradual removal of water from a saturated solution. And in this case, the slower the water is removed, the better the result. Leave the vessel with the solution open at room temperature for a long time, covering it with a sheet of paper - the water will evaporate slowly, and dust will not enter the solution. A growing crystal can either be suspended in a saturated solution on a thin, strong thread, or placed on the bottom of a vessel. In the latter case, the crystal must periodically be turned to the other side. As the water evaporates, fresh solution should be added to the vessel. Even if our original crystal had irregular shape, sooner or later he himself will straighten out all his defects and take the form characteristic of given substance, for example, it will turn into an octahedron if you use a salt of potassium chromium alum, a rhombus - if you use copper sulfate.

Growing crystals- the process is entertaining, but requires a careful and careful attitude to their work. Theoretically, the size of a crystal that can be grown at home in this way is unlimited. There are cases when enthusiasts received crystals of such a size that they could only be lifted with the help of comrades.

But, there are some features of their storage (of course, each salt and substance has its own characteristics). For example, if a crystal of alum is left open in dry air, it will gradually lose its water content and turn into a nondescript gray powder. To protect it from destruction, you can cover it with a colorless varnish. Copper sulfate and table salt are more stable and you can safely work with them.

How to grow a crystal

grow a crystal can from different substances: for example, from sugar, even stone - artificial cultivation of stones, in compliance with strict rules by temperature, pressure, humidity and other factors (artificial rubies, amethysts, quartz, citrines, morions).
At home, of course, we will not succeed in all this, so we will do it differently. We will grow salt crystals. We all have ordinary edible salt at home (as you probably know that it chemical name sodium chloride NaCl). Any other salt is also suitable (salt - from a chemical point of view), for example, you can get beautiful blue crystals from copper sulphate or any other sulphate (for example, iron sulphate). You can use alum (double metal salts of sulfuric acid), sodium thiosulfate (formerly used for making photographs). For all these salts (and for salt in general) no special conditions are required: they made a solution, lowered the "embryo" there (all this is described in detail below) and it grows for itself, adding in growth every day.
Yes, you should not color the solution where your crystal grows, for example, with paints or something like that - this will only spoil the solution itself, but the crystal will still not color! The best way to get colored crystals is to choose the salt you need by color! But be careful: for example, yellow blood salt crystals have a red-orange color - and the solution turns yellow.
Now we can get started!

Growing Salt Crystals

salt crystals- the growing process does not require any special chemicals. We all have table salt (or table salt) that we eat. It can also be called stone - all the same. NaCl salt crystals are colorless transparent cubes. Let's start. Dilute the salt solution as follows: pour water into a container (for example, a glass) and place it in a saucepan with warm water(no more than 50°С - 60°С). Of course, in ideal, if the water does not contain dissolved salts (i.e. distilled), but in our case, tap water can also be used. Pour table salt into a glass and leave for 5 minutes, after stirring. During this time, a glass of water will heat up, and the salt will dissolve. It is desirable that the temperature of the water does not decrease yet. Then add more salt and stir again. Repeat this step until the salt no longer dissolves and settles to the bottom of the glass. We got a saturated salt solution. Pour it into a clean container of the same volume, while getting rid of excess salt at the bottom. Choose any larger crystal of table salt you like and put it in the bottom of a glass with a saturated solution. You can tie a crystal to a thread and hang it so that it does not touch the walls of the glass. Now we have to wait. After a couple of days, you can notice a significant growth for the crystal. Every day it will increase. And if you do the same again (prepare a saturated salt solution and dip this crystal into it), then it will grow much faster (remove the crystal and use the already prepared solution, adding water and the necessary portion of edible salt to it). Remember that the solution must be saturated, that is, when preparing the solution, salt should always remain at the bottom of the glass (just in case). For information: approximately 35 g of table salt can dissolve in 100 g of water at a temperature of 20 ° C. As the temperature rises, the solubility of the salt increases.
This is how table salt crystals are grown (or salt crystals, the shape and color of which you like best)

Growing copper sulfate crystals

Copper sulfate crystals- are grown in a similar way, as well as with common salt: first, a saturated salt solution is prepared, then a small crystal of copper sulphate salt that you like is lowered into this solution.
Attention! copper sulphate - - chemically active salt! Therefore, for the success of the experiment in this case, you need to take distilled water, i.e. containing no other salts dissolved in it. It is also better not to take water from the tap, since, firstly, it contains dissolved salts, and secondly, it can be highly chlorinated. Impurities (especially carbonates in a hard kind) enter into chemical reactions with copper sulphate, due to which the solution deteriorates greatly
If everything is in order, we will continue. If you decide not to pour the solution from the container in which the small crystal originally grew, then hang the crystal so that it does not touch the other crystals remaining at the bottom!

Crystals are grown not only from solutions, but also from salt melts. A prime example yellow opaque sulfur crystals, having the shape of a rhombus or elongated prisms, can serve. But with gray, especially, I do not advise working. The gas produced during its evaporation is harmful to health.
You can avoid the growth of individual crystal faces. To do this, these faces must be applied with a solution of petroleum jelly or fat.

liquid crystals are substances that behave both as liquids and as solid bodies. Molecules in liquid crystals, on the one hand, are quite mobile, on the other hand, they are arranged regularly, forming a semblance of a crystalline structure (one-dimensional or two-dimensional). Often already with a slight heating correct location molecules are broken, and the liquid crystal becomes an ordinary liquid. On the contrary, if enough low temperatures they freeze, turning into solids. The regular arrangement of molecules in liquid crystals determines their special optical properties. Their properties can be controlled by exposing them to magnetic or electric field. It is used in liquid crystal displays of clocks, calculators, computers and latest models TVs.

Step 1: Dissolve salt in warm water

Step 2: Stir until completely dissolved (until the salt no longer dissolves)

Stage 3: We tie and lower the thread into a supersaturated solution

Step 4: Let the solution cool and wait for the appearance of small crystals of copper sulfate

Stage 5: Copper sulfate crystal - if you wait a little longer!

Experiences such as growing a crystal with your own hands will help you feel like a jack of all trades - you will learn how to make beautiful jewelry for home, sweet lollipops and help your kids learn the basics of chemistry.

Use of crystals

Such an idea how to grow a crystal is a great opportunity to study Chemical properties different substances. If you have children at home, be sure to challenge them to grow a crystal at home - not without your help, of course. It will be interesting for the children to observe the progress of work, comprehending chemical science in such an exciting way.

Some experiments will also help you get decorative details to decorate individual compositions - for example, salt crystals can be excellent decorating materials.

However, it must be remembered that many of the materials used are extremely poisonous - they should not be touched by hands or inhaled vapors. Such substances are not suitable for use in Everyday life- They can only be used for experiments.

Growing crystals can be chosen as a hobby, an exciting activity, because in fact the creator never knows what kind of crystal will turn out in the end.

Types of chemicals

At home, you can grow a crystal from a variety of substances. Some of them require special processing: you can work with them only under certain conditions - at a special temperature, lighting, etc. These include the following materials:

• Mohr's salt;

• blood salt;

• various alums;

• nickel sulfate;

• ammonium nitrate.

If you are just starting out with how to grow a crystal at home, it is better to postpone using them.

However, many work mixes, such as table salt, can be found in any home. With them, it is recommended to start work for beginners.

Salt

There is nothing easier than growing salt crystals at home!

To operate this product, you do not need to use any special accessories or equip workplace with supernatural conditions.

blue vitriol

Another easy option. Before growing a crystal from copper sulfate, the substance can be bought at an amateur gardener's store - it is sold as a fertilizer.

From the master classes below, you will understand that working with vitriol is as easy as growing a crystal from salt. The only difference is that the mixture is an active saturated salt substance, so it is undesirable to conduct experiments using running or any other water - only distilled water, which you can find in a pharmacy, is suitable.

Sugar

The only substance that can be eaten after the experience! Experiments with sugar are completely harmless, so you can safely teach your children how to grow a crystal, using his example.

The result should be delicious sugar candies in the form of frosty crystals - an original replacement for cockerels on a stick.

Safety regulations

Despite the fact that novice chemists use mostly familiar solutions, such as salt or sugar, everyone must follow certain precautions - the instructions are presented below.

1. Allocate special dishes for experiments, from which you will not eat in the future. Neglect of this point can lead to serious food poisoning.
2. Each substance must be stored in a separate, hermetically sealed package with a mandatory signature of the contents on the bottle. Keep substances out of the reach of children and pets, in a cool and dark place.
3. Use protective clothing and gloves.
4. Work with chemicals that emit vapors into the air should be carried out only near powerful hoods.
5. If acid gets on the skin, be sure to sprinkle the place with a weak alkali (water diluted with baking soda) and vice versa - alkaline solutions are easily neutralized with an acid like citric acid.

Such skills are very useful when working with dangerous chemicals. Over time, you will bring the implementation of this instruction to automatism and will not worry when you want to use dangerous mixtures instead of ordinary salt or soda to grow a crystal.

salt crystals at home

After the theoretical advice, you can move on to the part where you will learn how to grow a crystal from salt. Prepare water in unlimited quantities - it is better to use distilled water (purified from any additives) so that the substance does not react with any impurities. However, ordinary running water will do.

In addition, you will need a small saucepan, a glass container (jar, glass), silk thread, a pack of salt.

• Place a saucepan of water over medium heat. Heat the water, but do not bring to a boil.

• In small portions, start pouring salt into the water, stirring constantly. Each time pour a new handful after the previous one is completely dissolved.

• The preparation of the solution ends when the salt has completely ceased to dissolve in water - this means that you have prepared a concentrated mixture.

• Pour the concentrated composition into a transparent glass container and leave to settle for about a day.

• Free time is necessary for all the smallest, undissolved particles to settle to the bottom. In the photo you can see how the salt precipitate is obtained.

• Take a thread or string, tie it around a long thin stick that you can put on the neck of a glass container.

• The length of the lace should be less than the height of the vessel, so cut off the excess.

• Lower the string into the water in a suspended state so that it does not touch the walls of the jar and the sediment at the bottom.

• Leave the experiment in this state for 1-3 weeks.

• After a couple of days, you will notice an increase in small crystals on the thread. Experience in this case is interesting just by observing how much the crystal grows over a certain period of time.

• Instead of an ordinary thread, you can lower a large piece of salt suspended on a thread into a glass. In this case, the substance will grow around it.

Can you grow a crystal certain form, as well as arbitrary. To control appearance substances, apply a thin layer of fat or petroleum jelly on one side of the crystal - you will see that there will be no growth here.

If desired, salt can be replaced with other substances - for example, it is easy to prepare crystals from soda or copper sulphate using the same technology.

How to grow a crystal from sugar?

If you set yourself the goal of learning how to grow a crystal from sugar, you will be pleasantly surprised by the result - beautiful sweet candies that will delight children and pleasantly surprise adults during tea drinking. An interesting use for them is to stir tea with them. So you get both a stir stick and a sugar sweetener.

• Prepare a concentrated solution of sugar in the same way as in the experiment with salt - the sugar should completely cease to dissolve in warm water. After that, pour the hot syrup into a transparent bowl.

• When the solution is ready, start preparing the base sticks. Tie one stick to the other crosswise so that the first is lowered into the bowl, and the other is held by its neck.

• Dip the stick in the syrup - it should not touch the bottom.

• Leave the structure in a dry and warm place - in a day you will notice how crystals begin to appear in the liquid.

• In about a week, you will have finished sugar skewers. Enjoy your meal!

If you want your lollipop to be colorful, add a little food coloring to each jar as you pour the hot syrup.

Such sweets can be a nice gift for your loved ones for the holidays - you can add such sweet sticks to a present on New Year or birthday.

To find out how to grow a crystal from blue vitriol, watch the following video.

Take it, tell your friends!

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