How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home. How to grow a crystal at home: master classes How to make crystals at home from copper sulfate
Dobrinka 2015
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………… pp. 3-4
2. Relevance…………………………………………………………… page 4
3. The appearance of crystals……………………………… page 5
4. Main technological stages of cultivation
any large crystal ………………………… page 5
5. Practical work………………………………….. pp. 5-8
6. Summary. Conclusions…………………………………………………………… page 8
7. Literature………………………………………………………………. page 9
Topic: “Growing crystals from copper sulfate.”
Target : grow copper sulfate crystals at home
Tasks:
- find out what a crystal is, find out what conditions need to be created for crystal growth, observe the growth process, prove that you can grow crystals at home.
Object of study: mineral.
Subject of study: copper sulfate crystals.
Research methods:
- experiment, observation, Practical significance research is that it can be used in lessons about the surrounding world, in extracurricular activities, in club classes,
Techniques and skills to be mastered during the work process:
1. Rules for working with text and reference material;
2. Rules for using a computer;
3. Ability to work with information, equipment and materials.
4. Practical skills.
Predicted result:
During the research work, they will learn how to grow crystals. Prepare the outcome in the form of a presentation.
Hypothesis: check the possibility of salt crystal growth without using special equipment .
Stages of work on the project: project selection, activity planning, selection of materials, analysis and comparison.
Independent reflections and observations: obtaining information from various sources.
1. Introduction
Crystals attract people. You can admire them for a long time, examining the edges. They attract with their color. These are: amethysts, garnets, crystal, etc. What kind of crystalline forms has nature not created! Since childhood, we have all been attracted and attracted to multi-colored pebbles. Intuitively, we felt some kind of mystery in them and could not take our eyes off their natural beauty. We have always wanted to know more about crystals, how they form, grow, what their structure is, their function and what makes them so different from each other. Perhaps the crystal is a rare and beautiful mineral or gemstone. You are partly right. Emeralds and diamonds are crystals. But not all crystals are rare and beautiful. Every single particle of salt or sugar is also a crystal!
There are hundreds of substances in nature that form crystals. Water is one of the most common of these. Freezing water turns into ice crystals or snowflakes grown from water vapor
2.Relevance
This year in our environment lessons we studied minerals. I was very interested in quartz. I decided to find out if it was possible to grow such crystals myself. After all, many ornamental stones are grown in laboratories. Having studied the literature on growing crystals, we realized what a fascinating activity it is, as safe as possible from a safety point of view, which is important for those who conduct experiments at home. Careful preparation and execution sharpens skills in the ability to carefully handle substances and properly organize a work plan. People use crystals in construction, in the production of jewelry, watches, electronic devices, and computer equipment; crystals are used to make prisms and lenses for optical devices. Devices based on liquid crystals have also become an integral part of our lives, so this topic is relevant for modern people.
3. The appearance of crystals.
What are crystals? Crystals, translated from Greek, (krystallos) ice. According to the encyclopedia, a crystal is a solid. Crystals grow by attaching particles of substance from liquid or vapor. Crystals can be of natural origin or artificial, grown in specially created conditions. And every person, if desired, can easily grow crystals at home. But in order for the result to turn out really beautiful, you need to carefully perform all the actions and follow the technological process.
Having studied the literature, we learned that copper sulfate is a salt (salt - from a chemical point of view) of blue color, not poisonous to humans (unless you eat it) and it is used not only in gardening, but also in medicine, construction and even in the food industry! But the most interesting thing for me was that every single particle of this salt is a crystal! The process of crystal formation is called crystallization. One method for obtaining crystals is to gradually remove water from a saturated solution. The “excess” substance crystallizes. And in this case, the slower the water evaporates, the better the crystals are obtained.
4. Main technological stages of growing any large crystal
Supersaturated salt solution
- Constant air temperature
- Constant solution temperature
- No additional “seeds”
- Thorough filtration of the solution
5. Practical work.
To conduct the experiment we need: copper sulfate, thread, 2 jars, spoon, cardboard, scissors, spoon, glass, protective equipment, filter.
1. At the initial stage, prepare a supersaturated solution. Pour about 300 ml of water into a jar or glass. We begin to add copper sulfate. 
Add a tablespoon and stir. The vitriol will dissolve very quickly. Add another spoon and stir again. We do this until the salt begins to settle at the bottom. The solution turned out to be oversaturated. Place the jar in a pan of water and put the pan on the fire. It is necessary to achieve complete dissolution of the vitriol in water so that the crystals turn out beautiful and clean; to do this, it is necessary to filter the resulting solution, as quickly as possible, before crystallization occurs.
2. While the solution is cooling, prepare the “seed”. The seed can be a large crystal of copper sulfate or a bead or button. We fix the seed on the thread.
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3. The seed on the thread can be placed inside the jar with the solution. In this case, the seed should not touch the walls of the vessel or its bottom. Therefore, we tie a thread to a stick or pencil in the middle. Place a pencil across the neck of the jar.
4. Leave the structure alone and wait until crystals begin to form. When the crystal reaches the desired size, remove it from the solution and cut the thread.
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The concentrated solution of copper sulfate should not get on your hands, so use gloves
1.Do not taste the salt of copper sulfate.
2. Avoid contact of the substance with the nose and eyes.
3.Eating from the dishes that were used during the experiment is strictly prohibited.
4. While the crystal is growing, do not touch it with your hands, because fingerprints will remain on it, and the crystal will grow in an irregular shape.
5.Always wash your hands after completing experiments.
The jar with the solution was placed open in a warm place. We monitored the growth of the crystal every day, under no circumstances lifting, turning or shaking the glass with the solution, otherwise the crystal might be damaged. Three days after the start of the experiment, a crystal of copper sulfate appeared on the thread.
On day 26 of the experiment, we removed the crystals from the jar.
Practical significance.
Crystals obtained in the process of growing copper sulfate from salt can be used to decorate the interior of premises, to create a variety of decorative compositions and panels. Grown crystals in the form of various flowers, figures, twigs can be used to make souvenirs and gifts for friends and acquaintances.
6. Summary. Conclusions.
In the course of our work, we investigated a very interesting property of crystals - their growth in an artificial environment. It turns out that crystals can be grown at home, without any effort.
As a result of the research, the hypothesis is fully confirmed: we were able to grow copper sulfate crystals at home.
Literature
1. Great Children's Encyclopedia: Chemistry, comp. K. Lucis. M.: Russian Encyclopedic Partnership. 2000.
2. Vladimirov’s gold: Scientific and fiction literature. M.: Children's literature. 1986.
3. Interactive encyclopedia “Everything about everything”, M.: Makhaon 2007.
4. Leenson chemistry. M.: Bustard. 1996.
5. Encyclopedia for the curious “What, why and why? » M.: Makhaon 2012.
6. http://www. kakprosto. ru
7. http://www. zircon81.narod. ru
natural rock crystals
Their formation requires special conditions. For example, rock granite comprises crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica, which crystallized one after another as the magma cooled.Beautiful hexagonal rock crystal crystals grew from hot aqueous solutions saturated with silica SiO 2.
natural sulfur crystals
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, were formed under enormous pressure in the so-called explosion pipes (kimberlite pipes).
So, nature has created and continues to create mineral crystals. 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 this 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 place a container of water on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Then remove the container from the stove and dissolve regular salt from the pack in it. Constantly 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 container, for example, a saucer. The water will cool and begin to evaporate, and on the edges of the saucer and on its bottom you will see transparent cubes of regular shape - these are crystals of rock salt and halite.
You can grow a large crystal, or several large cubic crystals. To do this, place a woolen thread in the container in which you dissolved the salt. As the solution cools, it will become covered with salt cubes. The slower the solution cools, the more regular the crystals will have. After some time, growth will stop.
To grow one large crystal, you need to select one, the most correct one, from the many crystals formed at the bottom, place it on the bottom of a clean glass, and pour the solution from the previous container on top.
For the right crystals to grow, they need peace. Do not shake or move the table or shelf on which the container with growing crystals is placed.
HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SUGAR
You can grow sugar crystals in the same way as salt crystals. Sugar crystals can also be grown on wooden sticks; this can be a beautiful addition to any holiday sweet dish. Food coloring added to the solution will color the sugar in all the colors of the rainbow.
Sugar crystals
Below are complete instructions, how to grow sugar crystals on sticks.
HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM COPPER SULATE
Copper sulfate is sold in gardening stores; “Bordeaux liquid” is prepared from it and slaked lime 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, powdered copper sulfate should be dissolved in water at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures, the solubility of copper sulfate decreases. Dissolve the powder until dissolution stops. At the end of a wire or woolen thread we tie 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 bag from which you poured the vitriol into the water. If you don’t find one, leave your solution to cool, and after a while you will see small crystals at the bottom.
Choose one and tie (or glue) it to a wire or thread. Filter the solution. Then dip the prepared seed (crystal on a thread) into it. Never put the seed into a hot solution! The seed may simply dissolve. A large crystal of copper sulfate grows for several weeks. A crystal grown to the required size must be varnished, since the moisture contained in the air will eventually lead to its melting and destruction.
They are grown in a similar way; you can read a detailed article about this by following the link in this sentence.
HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM ALUMINUM POTASSIUM Alum
grown crystals of potassium alum
Potassium alum (KAI 2 * 12H 2 O - mineral alunite ) sold in pharmacies in powder form. This is a good product 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. Alum should be dissolved in warm water until saturated and the solution filtered. After a few days of being in a quiet 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 select several pieces of the correct shape and place them in another container. Then they are filled 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 should be transferred to a new glass, the solution should be filtered and the growing crystals should be poured into it again. Alum crystals, When grown to the required size, they should be varnished so that they do not melt from air moisture and lose their shape.
It is advisable to prepare solutions for growing crystals using distilled water.
At home you can get artificial malachite, using copper sulfate and washing soda, but these 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, practically indistinguishable from natural, can only be obtained using industrial equipment.
Enterprises also grow crystals of many minerals. But this cannot be repeated at home; this requires 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 ammonium and potassium dihydrogen phosphate, to which dyes are added, interesting prismatic and needle-shaped crystals can be grown. In order for the crystals to turn out large enough and beautiful, you must strictly follow the attached instructions.
Strangely, the instructions that come in the box pictured do not indicate what chemical is used to grow the crystals or what dye is used. Otherwise it is quite detailed.
This article will describe in detail how to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home. This material can be useful both for schoolchildren when preparing assignments in the subject “chemistry”, and for anyone interested in this science.
Why copper sulfate?
This substance belongs to the class of salts, which means its solution can easily be turned into a solid through the process of crystallization. Growing stone from it, as a rule, occurs much faster than when using materials such as table salt or sugar. In addition, crystals from copper sulfate turn out to be a beautiful blue color. With proper cultivation, they acquire the correct multifaceted shape, so observing the result of your own experience can be very interesting and pleasant.
Another argument in favor of choosing this particular material may be its availability. You can buy a jar of copper sulfate at any store that specializes in selling supplies for gardeners and summer residents.
What do you need to know before starting the experience?
This chapter will provide some theoretical knowledge that will help you in the future grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home. First of all, you need to understand what processes need to happen for the experiment to be successful.
Schoolchildren know from chemistry lessons that many liquid and gaseous substances can acquire a solid consistency. This usually occurs during the crystallization process. But what to do if the task is to obtain a solid substance from sugar, salt or copper sulfate, which are already such? Science says that this is quite possible. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to start the recrystallization process. That is, the result of the experiment can be considered successful if small stones, having dissolved in the liquid, are immediately transformed into the same solid clumps.
Recrystallization
The main condition under which such a process can be carried out is the presence of a supersaturated solution.
This means that growing crystals at home from copper sulfate requires the preparation of such a mixture. A liquid can be called supersaturated with any substance if there is so much material dissolved in it that some of it cannot completely mix with it and settles at the bottom of the container. Therefore, in order to figure out how to grow a crystal from copper sulfate, you must first learn how to make a supersaturated solution.
Hygienic requirements
First of all, it is worth taking care of the necessary sterility in which the experiment should take place. Ideally, an amateur chemist's hair should be covered with a hat, and it is best to wear rubber gloves on his hands. Copper sulfate, if handled carefully and wisely, does not pose any danger to the human body.
All of the above precautions are needed primarily to protect the solution from dust and small particles of foreign materials getting into it. This is extremely undesirable, since other crystals may begin to grow on similar grains of sand that accidentally fall into the liquid, which will slow down the development of the main stone.
Supersaturated solution recipe
To prepare it, you will need a saucepan, water, a jar of copper sulfate, and a container in which the main part of the experiment will be carried out (a vessel with transparent walls is best suited for this purpose, since you will need to observe the growth of the crystal daily). Also, to accomplish this task, you will need a sheet of paper, a match and a thread (it is best if it is not fleecy, but, for example, silk or made from a similar material).
So, let's begin the first stage of making a crystal from copper sulfate at home. The pan with water must be placed on low heat. When the liquid is already hot enough, but has not yet had time to boil, you need to pour a few tablespoons of copper sulfate into it. The water should be stirred until the blue substance is completely dissolved.
Repeat this step multiple times
When this happens, add a couple more tablespoons of copper sulfate. The liquid must be stirred thoroughly again.
Don’t be alarmed if this time not all the crystals of the substance were able to dissolve, and some of them formed a sediment at the bottom of the pan. The appearance of such an excess just means that you have achieved the desired result - namely, you have obtained a supersaturated solution. If this does not happen, then you need to add a few more tablespoons of vitriol to the water and stir again. These steps will have to be repeated until sediment appears at the bottom of the pan.
Making "bait"
This fishing term is sometimes used to describe small crystals of copper sulfate, which serve as the basis for further growing stones from this substance.
To make them you need to take three small particles. When choosing crystals, you need to take into account the criterion of the correctness of their shape. The more perfect the selected pieces are, the more correct and high-quality the clot obtained as a result of your experience will be.
Three particles are placed at the bottom of a transparent vessel and filled with a supersaturated vitriol solution.
After this, the container is covered with a sheet of paper and placed in a place with the most stable temperature conditions. As a rule, experts recommend placing it on a windowsill.
This place in the apartment is considered the most secluded, and therefore nothing can interfere with the experiment. After all the necessary actions have been completed, all further steps for growing a crystal from copper sulfate at home can be postponed for 2 days. During this time, the particles placed in the liquid should grow several times and reach the size of a match head.
Selecting the best candidate
From these ingots it is necessary to select the one that has the most correct shape. This is the so-called “bait”. Next, you need to make a supersaturated solution of copper sulfate again. How to do it is described in previous chapters. It should be strained through cheesecloth and poured back into a transparent container. The crystal chosen as “bait” must be tied to a thread, the other end of which must be secured to a match.
Take a sheet of paper and make a hole in the middle of such a size that a manufactured pebble of copper sulfate can pass through it freely. Pass a thread through this hole so that the crystal is on one side of the sheet and the match is on the other. After this, cover the jar with this paper. In this case, the match, naturally, should lie on top, and the crystal should float in the liquid.
Patience and more patience
The problem of how to make a crystal from copper sulfate has already been almost solved. Now you just need to put the vessel again in a secluded place and wait.
It is necessary to ensure that the crystal is, if possible, located in the center of the jar and does not come into contact with the walls. This can be achieved by moving the piece of paper and adjusting the length of the string with a match as the crystal grows.
Various ways
We bring to your attention several more master classes. Crystals from copper sulfate can be grown in a slightly different way.
The second method is to place the jar with the “bait” in an insulated container or wrap the jar in a blanket or other warm thing. This way you can achieve a slower cooling of the supersaturated solution. This option is more complex than the one described earlier, but as a result of its use, pebbles of a very regular shape are obtained. The next way to grow a crystal from copper sulfate is the easiest.
There is no need to make a “bait”. A thread is placed in a container with a supersaturated solution. In this case, it is best to choose the one that is made of the fluffiest material. Its end is tied to a faceted pencil, which is placed on top of the jar on its walls. A crystal will form on the thread itself.
Depending on temperature conditions, the growing experience can last from one week to several months.
Crystal... This word really reeks of magic. I don’t know about the magical properties of crystals, but they definitely have a variety of useful physical properties. 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. Moreover, 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 point is that a good and beautiful, and, most importantly, large crystal cannot be grown quickly. This takes time. That is why the experience of growing crystals over nine days was developed in the section where you could observe the progress of the process and, perhaps, even conduct your own experiment in parallel. This article is a generalization of the information obtained during the experiment. 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, for example, 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 lid for the container
- Funnel
- Filter paper or any material with which you can 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 sulfate is used in the experiment. The crystal from it should turn out to be a beautiful blue color. In addition, it is quite easy to get copper sulfate - it is usually sold at any gardening store. If you were unable to find copper sulfate or are simply too lazy to go to the store, then you can use any crystalline substance, for example, ordinary 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 be working with chemicals that may be harmful to you. Do not use food containers for your experiment, use protective equipment (gloves, goggles), and wash your laboratory glassware thoroughly. If chemicals come into contact with your skin or eyes, rinse thoroughly with water. If ingested, consult a doctor.
Well, now that the formalities are over, let's get started.
Day 1.
As I already said, growing crystals is a procedure that has some peculiarities. Another feature of this experiment, in addition to its duration, is the need to grow the so-called seed, i.e. a small crystal from which a larger 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 the seed, especially since there is nothing complicated about it.
Let's prepare a saturated solution.
Let's pour a little copper sulfate into a glass container (hereinafter I will talk about copper sulfate, since it is what is involved in the experiment; you use the substance that you managed to find).
Pour the salt (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 ahead of time.
Stir the salt until it dissolves, then add more salt and stir again. We repeat this until the salt stops dissolving in the water.
Thus, we have obtained a saturated salt solution.
Now the resulting solution needs to 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 crystallization centers, i.e. other crystals will begin to form around them, but we don’t need that. 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 a more or less constant temperature regime will be ensured (a window sill is great for this), and covered with something to prevent foreign impurities from entering.
The solution will begin to cool and become supersaturated, 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 crystallization centers will be those grains of salt that we added to the saturated solution. You will need to wait 2-3 days. After this, we will 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 use as seeds, but I will try to keep them for another day.
Day 4.
Well, enough time has passed, and we have formed good material for seeding. All that remains is to choose a suitable candidate.
Already quite beautiful, isn't it? But we will not stop there and will continue our experiment.
At first glance, it seems that the resulting mass of crystals is a monolith, but in fact, separating the crystals is not particularly difficult.
Try to choose a crystal of the most correct shape. I chose not the largest one available, but I liked its shape the most. The more correct the shape of the seed, the more correct the crystal shape will be in the future. To make the size 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 thread that is less fluffy so that side crystals do not form on its protruding fibers. Do not use wire as a hanger.
Now the thread with the seed needs to be threaded through the lid of the container and secured on the back side. You need to secure it in such a way that you can adjust the height of the suspension at any time. For example, you can wind excess thread onto a match from the reverse side 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 seeding: dissolving salt in hot water until it stops dissolving, filtering the solution. We place our seed in this fresh solution. 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 options. 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 container with the seed in thermal vessels and constantly monitor the temperature of the solution. In simple terms, there is quite a lot of fiddling around. But the reward for such efforts is worthwhile - the crystal will turn out to be as pure and correct in shape as possible.
The second way is much simpler. You placed the seed in a hot solution and can forget about it for a while, leaving the crystallization process to chance. With this method, the growing crystal may not have an ideal shape, but the growth process will be faster.
I chose the second path. In the end, having followed a simpler path and gained some experience, I can always do a more complex version of the experiment. In addition, you need to keep in mind that a quick version of the experiment does not mean that it can be completed in a couple of hours. Even with accelerated experimentation, the crystal will grow for several days. In the case of a long-term option, the experiment can last for 1 – 2 months.
But in both cases, you need to monitor the growth of the crystal. There is no need to take out the crystal and touch it again - this may affect its shape. If side crystals begin to form on a crystal or thread, they must be carefully removed so that they do not spoil the shape of the main crystal.
And one moment. If you put a seed into the solution, and it does not begin to increase, but quite the opposite, it dissolves, then this means that you have prepared an unsaturated solution. The solution preparation procedure 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.
Over the course of a day, the crystal grew significantly. The photo shows a crystal in comparison with a match and a crystal - a duplicate seed, which I left yesterday just in case.
However, as you can see, the crystal shape is not ideal; there are many defects. This is the result of rapid crystal growth. But I still like him :)
I refreshed the solution as I had done before and dropped the crystal into it again. Since the dimensions of the crystal increased significantly compared to the previous day, it was necessary to adjust the height of the seed suspension. The experiment continues.
Day 6.
Crystal has grown up. I renewed the copper sulfate solution again.
Day 7.
The crystal barely fits into my glass! Don’t forget to clean the thread from growing small crystals.
Day 8.
Day 9.
Well, here comes, I believe, 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 a little cramped 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 is, it will soon collapse. To prevent this from happening, it needs to 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, a jar. But it seems to me that the best option is to cover it with varnish. This will give it additional shine, and it will be possible to observe it, as they say, live, and not through glass.
Now you can take a good look at the crystal. Of course, its shape was not ideal. But I deliberately chose the fast path of crystal growth instead of the high-quality one. In any case, I was pleased with the result. In nine days, the crystal grew more than seven centimeters in length - quite a good result!
I even wanted to give it a name. They give names to large and unique precious stones. 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 bit of humor, I decided to call the resulting seven-centimeter pebble Baby.
Good luck with your experiments!
Growing crystals is a great way to introduce a child to the basics of chemistry, get him interested in direct participation in the experience, and spend his time usefully.
You can grow white crystals from ordinary table salt or sugar, or you can do it from copper sulfate powder. Then the crystal will be a beautiful blue color.
To begin, you should prepare:
- 500-550 grams of copper sulfate powder. It is used in agriculture as a fertilizer. Sold either in hardware stores or in agricultural stores.
- A container for preparing a salt solution and a glass beaker with a volume of more than 300 ml. But a simple half-liter jar will do.
- A glass rod and a thread tied to it. At the other end of the thread you can attach a small object, such as a button.
- Distilled water. It is sold at any auto parts store.
Instructions for growing a crystal of copper sulfate
- Prepare a solution of copper sulfate. To do this, take a prepared glass container, fill it with water, add CuSO4 powder and stir until completely dissolved. Copper sulfate salts are very active, so the water should be distilled; you should not take tap water. The water should be warm, but not higher than 60°C. For 500 grams of copper sulfate powder there should be at least 300 ml of water.
- Gently stir the solution. The result is a concentrated composition, rich blue in color. We perform all actions wearing rubber gloves. If liquid gets on the skin or mucous membranes of the eyes, rinse thoroughly with running water. When the powder stops dissolving, pour the solution into a glass, leaving the excess salt in a large container.
- We lower the thread into the water so that the button attached to its end does not touch the walls of the vessel. The button should be in the middle of the glass. The thread is fixed on top of a glass rod, which is placed on the edges of the glass.
- Now we put the glass away for a day or three in a warm place. It should not be touched and the liquid inside should not be shaken. The place where the solution will be located should be away from food products. You should also ensure that it has easy access to monitor the growth of the crystal.
- You can remove the crystal, prepare a new saturated solution and lower the crystal into it. It will grow with renewed vigor, increasing every day. It will be dark blue in color, with beautiful edges. You can regulate the growth of the edges using Vaseline. In places where Vaseline is applied, growth will stop.
- The finished crystal of copper sulfate is removed from the solution, blotted with a napkin, dried and varnished to avoid contact with air and water.
In the process of preparing the solution and while observing the growth of the crystal, you can, together with your child, understand the processes that control its growth, study the properties of different substances and their effect on the shape of the crystals grown from them, and learn how to grow large crystals of various shapes.
