Growing Crystals Recipes

Crystals are structures that are formed from a regular repeated pattern of connected atoms or molecules. Crystals grow by a process termed nucleation. During nucleation, the atoms or molecules that will crystallize (solute) are dissolved into their individual units in a solvent. The atoms of a crystal are arranged in a lattice pattern. The most common crystals available in every home are salt and sugar.
Growing crystals recipes are easy to make. Learning chemistry becomes easy and fun when you allow children to make crystals with sugar, salt or alum at home. Rock candy crystals are more popular among children.

It's best to start your crystals with a saturated solution. A more dilute solution will become saturated as the air evaporates some liquid, but evaporation takes time (days, weeks). You will get your crystals more quickly if the solution is saturated to begin with. Also, there may come a time when you need to add more liquid to your crystal solution. If your solution is anything but saturated, then it will undo your work and actually dissolve your crystals! Make a saturated solution by adding your crystal solute (e.g., alum, sugar, salt) to the solvent (usually water, although some recipes may call for other solvents). Stirring the mix will help to dissolve the solute. Sometimes you may want to apply heat to help the solute dissolve. You can use boiling water or sometimes even heat the solution on the stove, over a burner, or in a microwave.

Make a saturated solution by adding your crystal solute (e.g., alum, sugar, salt) to the solvent (usually water, although some recipes may call for other solvents). Stirring the mix will help to dissolve the solute. Sometimes you may want to apply heat to help the solute dissolve. You can use boiling water or sometimes even heat the solution on the stove, over a burner, or in a microwave.

Crystals can be grown at home using the chemicals available in the nearby departmental store. Try these interesting crystal growing recipes.

Sugar Crystals
To make sugar crystals you would need 3 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water and food color (optional).
Boil 1 cup water with 3 cups of sugar. Stir continuously till the sugar has dissolved.
Add food color and mix well.
Sieve the sugar solution into a clean container. (The reason is un-dissolved sugar provides a surface for the crystals to grow and the crystals will grow in the container.)
Suspend a wooden spoon or a skewer into the solution.
The solution should not be disturbed for a few hours.
On cooling, the solution will harden to form sugar crystals or rock candy. It is commonly called as rock candy because it resembles the rock crystals and the children would love to eat this sugar crystal.

Alum Crystals
You require ½ cup water, 2-1/2 tbsp alum, 2 jars, and nylon threads.
Boil ½ cup water and pour it into a clean jar.
Add alum and stir well until no more will dissolve.
Cover the jar with paper towel and leave it undisturbed overnight.
Next day, pour the liquid from the original jar into another clean jar. Be careful not to allow any crystals into the new jar.

Select a good crystal from the original jar and tie it with a nylon thread.
Hang this crystal in the second jar without touching the bottom or the sides of the container. However, the liquid must cover the crystal.
You can see the crystal growing in the second jar. Allow it to grow till it stops growing.
Once the crystal stops growing, remove it from the jar and allow it to dry.

Salt Crystals
Add salt to boiling hot water until no more will dissolve.
For fast crystal, soak a piece of cardboard in the salt solution, and then set it in a sunny, dry spot to dry. Numerous tiny salt crystals will form on the surface of the cardboard.
For larger crystals, you need a seed crystal. Get a seed crystal by pouring a small amount of this solution onto a saucer. Let the liquid evaporate. Carefully scrape the best crystal from the saucer and attach it to a nylon thread.
Tie the other end of the line to a pencil or butter knife and hang the crystal in the growing solution.
The best salt crystals take several days to weeks to grow. Allow the solution to sit undisturbed in a cool, dry location. Remove the crystal when you are pleased with it or when it stops growing.

There are times when crystals do not form. The three main reasons are the impurity, unsaturated solution and un-dissolved chemical materials. Some of the remedies are to use clean containers, pure water and also use less impure chemicals. If the solution is unsaturated you can try crystallizing the solution by refrigerating it and reducing the temperature of the solution. The only way to remove the un-dissolved chemical materials is by filtering the solution to another clean jar.

You can find great recipes for your home and family Here!