Crystals from ordinary salt at home. How to grow a crystal from salt

Crystals always attract attention with their beauty, naturalness and unusualness. These characteristics are not only natural species stones, but also artificially created. Many needlewomen, novice chemists are wondering how to grow a crystal from salt at home? Let's deal with this task, and also find out what is needed to create such beauty, how to speed up the growth process, what to add to the solution to make a bright blue or blue stone.

What you need to grow crystals at home

To grow a real crystal at home, you need special dishes and an appropriate solution. The process is very long, so nothing can happen in a matter of days. The growth of a stone depends on many factors: the saturation of the solution, the temperature and humidity of the air, the type of salt used for the crystal, the base. For successful cultivation such beauty needs to be prepared:

• Capacity where it will grow salt crystal(sizes can be any, it all depends on the desired size of the stone). The material from which the dishes are made is important. It should not oxidize in salt water and give off color.
• Table salt (which is used in household use).
• A stick to stir the solution (wood or glass).
• Filter paper white color or napkins.

How to quickly grow a crystal from table salt and water

When wondering how to grow a crystal from salt, get ready that for this task you will need from 3 weeks to 6-7 months, depending on the desired size of the final product. The resulting stone will be very brittle, so do not touch it with your hands. To keep such a masterpiece for a long time, cover the product with a transparent varnish. Consider step by step process preparing a crystal table salt:

Color crystal: blue or blue DIY

How to grow a crystal from salt of blue color? Only with the use of special food dyes, which may not give a bright shade. When mixing salt and water, it is also worth adding not a large number of of blue color. When the molecules begin to combine, the crystal will take on an unusual blue hue. To grow a bright blue stone, you will have to deal with copper sulfate.

You can buy this substance in any store for gardeners and summer residents. With it, you need to do the same actions as with salt. But since chemical composition blue vitriol can be hazardous to health, it is recommended to remove the solution in a place inaccessible to children and animals. Here is the step by step process to create a dark blue crystal:

How to make a big white sea salt crystal

Using classic version growing crystals, they are made from table salt, which is used in food. This product is in large quantities present on the shelves of any grocery store and is quite inexpensive. But what salts are best for growing crystals? Sea salt is also suitable for this purpose. The difference is in what the result will be.

To obtain unusual masterpieces of nature, you need to put in one container to grow a crystal from table salt, and in another - from sea salt. In the second case, the growth rate can be greater, as well as the density of the resulting stone. Appearance crystals may also differ, but only slightly, since the molecules of sea and table salt are almost the same.

To make a large white crystal from sea salt, use this method:

1. Prepare a clear glass (or glass jar) for the future process.
2. Dissolve a large amount of sea salt in warm spring water, strain the liquid through a thick cloth or gauze.
3. Pour the saturated solution into the chosen glass.
4. Take one crystal of sea salt, tie a thread to it and lower it into a container with the resulting liquid for several weeks or months.
5. When the size of the stone is as you need, take it out, dry it with napkins and varnish it.
6. Having received a white stone, you will not be able to paint it in a different color, since food paints will drain from the walls. The only way to get a bright shade of a stone is to add pigment directly to the solution from which the crystal will grow.
7. If, during the growth of the stone, the liquid level drops to a minimum, pour a solution of the same consistency into the container.

Photos and pictures of crystals of a beautiful and unusual shape

When in a few months you get an unusually beautiful crystal, you will definitely want to show the product to friends and acquaintances and take a picture of it. That is why the Internet is already full of photos of such unusual stones. They are different in shape: square, rectangular, round and tree-like. There are also original colors of salt crystals: yellow, blue, blue, red. See below a selection of photographs of the most original variants salt stones grown at home.

Crystals look attractive, eye-catching and mesmerizing. Gemstones used in jewelry are mineral crystals.

Thanks to modern technology, people have learned to grow such beauty on their own, and synthetic gems difficult to distinguish from crystals of natural origin. Table salt is also able to grow in the form of crystals. To verify this, consider ways to grow salt at home.

Materials for growing salt

To grow a salt crystal, prepare the appropriate solution and special dishes. The process itself will take several months, so you have to be patient. The growth of a salt crystal is affected by air humidity, room temperature, saturation of the solution, and the type of salt used. To successfully complete the experiment, you will need the following components:

A container made of a material that is not capable of oxidizing in salt water (a glass jar will do);

Table or sea salt;

Funnel;

Copper wire or thread;

Napkins or filter paper;

Wooden or glass rod for stirring the solution.

salt growing process

1. Pour distilled water into a container and add salt. Salt must be poured until mixing becomes difficult.
2. Put the resulting mixture in a water bath and wait until the salt is completely dissolved in water.
3. Strain the solution through filter paper or a napkin into a prepared jar.
4. Tie a small crystal of salt to the thread and lower it into the chilled liquid. Tie the second end of the thread to a stick, the length of which larger diameter jar neck. The stick will help fix the thread with the crystal, which is constantly in limbo.
5. Cover the resulting structure with a piece of cloth or a napkin, then put it in a place with the least temperature fluctuations.
6. During the experiment, you can not touch the jar, move and pull the thread with the crystal. The structure must be stationary.
7. After 4 weeks, the crystal will increase to the size of a bean, after 8 weeks, the diameter of the stone will reach 4 cm. If a salt crystal is needed bigger size will have to wait a few more months.
8. Carefully remove the finished crystal of the desired diameter from the jar and wipe it with a napkin. To protect the crystal from external damage, it is recommended to coat the stone with clear nail polish.
9. After the varnish has dried, you can admire the salt crystal.

A blue crystal is grown in the same way - for this, blue food coloring is added to the solution.

How to grow a white crystal from sea salt

To create a white crystal from sea salt, you will need the materials described above. The process of growing salt is as follows.

1. In a glass container, prepare a saturated saline solution. Add 40 g of sea salt to 100 g of hot water and stir the solution until the salt dissolves.
2. Cool the resulting liquid, then filter.
3. Let the solution stand for several hours, then filter again.
4. TO copper wire attach a grain of sea salt of a large size and lower it into a container with a solution so that the crystal does not touch the bottom.
5. Cover the jar with a sheet of paper so that they do not get inside foreign objects and dust.
6. After two days, carefully pull out the wire with the crystal, move it to another vessel and pour the solution into it.
7. The liquid is filtered once a week.
8. After a few days, the growth of the salt crystal will become noticeable. You can grow a stone until a crystal of the required diameter is formed.

The grown stone from salt is characterized by increased brittleness and fragility, so you should not hold it in your hands for no reason. After varnishing, it is recommended to store the crystal in a closed container so as not to damage it. Using the methods described, you can grow many salt crystals at home. different color using food coloring in the preparation of the solution bright colors. To find out what other crystals you can grow at home, click

Crystals have attracted man since ancient times. Almost all precious jewelry stones, with a few exceptions, are minerals with a clear crystal lattice. Modern technologies allow you to grow artificial gems that do not differ from real ones in appearance, have the same structure. Surprisingly, not only minerals, but ordinary grains of salt or sugar are also crystals that can grow. How to make salt crystals yourself? Let's talk about this in more detail.

First you need to choose the substance that you want to form into a crystal. Experiments at home have shown that the easiest way is to use ordinary table salt. This method has an undeniable advantage - all the necessary components are literally at hand, without requiring the purchase or search for special components. Read the instructions carefully before starting the experiment. For " little miracle» different salts are suitable:

• marine;
• cooking;
• copper or iron sulfate;
• potassium chloride;
• potassium alum;
• potassium permanganate.

Exercise extreme caution when handling the substances used. You must immediately decide what result you want to get - one large single crystal or several smaller ones. For this you will have to use different technologies. Note that the growth of single crystals is simpler in execution. Important: the capacity in which our beautiful stone, it is unacceptable to shake and move, otherwise it will turn out irregular shape. It is forbidden:

• without reason to remove the crystal from the vessel;
• use food coloring to add color;
• paint the surface of the finished "product" with paint.

How to grow a salt crystal at home

So you've decided to learn how to make a salt crystal. For a little preliminary practice, a ready-made crystal growing kit, which is sold in children's stores, is suitable. You will be able to carry out this process with your child. He will definitely enjoy the job. There is an express way to get what you are looking for in 1 day, but then you will get not one large, but several small crystals fused. If you are ready for the expectation and impressive results, we will tell you how to grow a crystal from table salt.

Necessary materials and tools

For the intended experience, it is necessary to prepare a set of required materials, which should contain:

• two transparent containers (so that we can observe the growth);
• the substance that we will use for growing (in our case, this is table salt);
• stick or tablespoon;
• funnel;
• filter paper;
• a thread, and better, if any, a thin copper wire;
• lots of time and patience.

Step-by-step instruction

All necessary materials prepared, it's time to start making a grain of salt with a magic stone. What is the basic principle of how a small crystal becomes large? A small grain is added to a saturated solution of a substance, and the molecules begin to stick to it. The crystal is growing. In order for the molecules to stick, you need to cool the liquid or evaporate it. The slow cooling method achieves more quick result. We bring to your attention instructions on how to make crystals from table salt:

1. In a glass container (it is better not to use a plastic one), we prepare a saturated saline solution. IN hot water add salt, mix thoroughly (for 100 grams of water heated to a temperature of 80 °, 36-38 grams of salt are required).
2. The finished solution must be allowed to cool. An hour after that, it must be filtered - using a funnel with cotton wool or special filter paper.
3. The composition that has stood for several hours is filtered again.
4. We tie a larger grain of salt to a copper wire or thread and lower it inside the container. It should be suspended, not touching the bottom. The jar should be covered with paper to avoid dust.
5. After a day or two, the bottom, walls, and the wire itself are overgrown with many small crystals. We take the second vessel, carefully move our embryo there and pour the liquid.
6. The remaining crystals are again filled with water, and then all the time we maintain the liquid level in the jar with a growing crystal. Approximately once a week, the solution must be filtered from the precipitated crystals.
7. After a few days, growth will become clearly noticeable. Continue growing as long as you want until you get the desired result. Then carefully remove the miracle stone, rinse gently and cover with colorless nail polish to give strength.

Grow salt crystals on different objects as an interesting form of art, or just as scientific experiment- it's simple and fun! In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make a salt crystal with 3D printed grids and structures, but you can grow them at home on just about anything you can imagine...even themselves.

The process is simple and it takes about an hour to actively prepare and carry out, and then the crystal grows over several days.

If you grow it as an introductory science experiment, you can demonstrate at home how solutions are created and how crystalline forms of salt form. Watching this is fun and interesting!

I embarked on this experiment to see if I could influence the shape so that they grow in a certain way or a certain size, which is based on the lattice structure on which they are grown.

Step 1: Required Components

To grow your salt crystals you need:

• Salt. Can be grown with almost any salt, however best results are achieved with copper sulfate or magnesium sulfate. You can also experiment with kitchen salt, sea salt, pink salt, and more. If you are using copper sulfate, wear nitrile gloves! In my experiments, I use magnesium sulfate.
• Distilled water
• A clean container, at least 5cm wider than the crystal you want to grow. Transparent containers have an advantage here over colored ones, as you can see through them what is growing inside, and if you also use kitchen utensils, you will be sure that your container is not afraid of heat and will not burst.
• The object on which the crystal will grow, or the string, experiment with lattice structures, as I did!
• Something to hang your object in solution on: a stick, chopstick, wire, string, etc.
• A pot large enough to boil the right amount of water and salt for the project.
• Spoon for mixing.

Step 2: Create the Salt Solution

Measure the volume of water:

• Put an object in a container
• Fill the object container with water to find out how much water you need
• Pour the water into the measuring container to determine the resulting volume

• Measure the amount of salt: 3 parts water to 1 part salt (there will be a little less than 30% salt in the solution)
• Boil water.
• After boiling, reduce the heat of the stove to low.
• Pour the salt into the water and stir until it is completely dissolved. Turn off the stove.
• Carefully pour the solution into the container with the object placed in it.
• Place the container with the solution in the place where you will leave it for the duration of the growth.

Step 3: Place the Object or String in the Salt Solution

To simply grow a salt crystal:

• Place a chopstick or spoon in the top middle of the container
• Wind the string around the center of the stick/spoon so that it hangs down and is immersed in the solution about 4 cm or more from the bottom of the container.
• Leave the container where it won't be touched and watch the crystal grow

To grow a salt crystal on an object:

Do almost the same as in the previous list. Hang the object on a string so that it hangs at least 5 cm from the bottom of the container. You can hang an object with sticks or wires.

Since I used lattice structures, I suspended them both with wire and with chopsticks.

Step 4: Wait for the crystals to grow

Do not disturb the container, but watch your crystals grow.

I advise you to leave the container for at least 1 day, but for best results give 3 days for growth. At some point, most of the salt will be in the crystal and it will simply stop growing.

Step 5: Gently Pull Your Crystals Out of the Solution

When you determine that it has grown to the desired size and shape, gently pull it by the string, or pull it out of the solution. If they are connected to your object through the entire container, then use a knife to carefully detach them from the walls of the container, being careful not to damage the structure of your creation.

Step 6: Do you want bigger crystals?

Before removing a string or object from the devices you used to hang it, consider whether you want to grow an even larger crystal. If so, repeat the process and your crystals will get bigger. Each time you only need to make a new saline solution.

If you will be repeating the process to grow larger crystals, it is very important to allow the water to cool to room temperature after boiling the water and creating the brine before lowering the structure into the solution.

If you do not cool the water, then it will dissolve the already prepared ones and you will, as it were, start over.

Step 7: Samples of my work

These are photographs of the same crystals that have passed through three saline solution look at the size difference.

I achieved a relatively smooth transition from object to crystal, each time dropping the object deeper into the solution.

Step 8: Enjoy the results!

Once you have grown them to the desired size, carefully separate the string/object from the fixtures you used to hang them and let finished product dry by laying it on a napkin.

In future experiments, you can try using tap water, bottled water, colored water, and you can also use different types salt, such as iodized, salt without iodine, sea ​​salt etc.

Growing them on different structures, have you noticed a difference in their shape?

I was surprised to find that crystals grown at different levels of the white plastic printed object grew at different sizes.

Step 9: More Growing Experiments

Step 10: More Growing Information

The study of crystals and their structure is called crystallography. A crystal is a solid made up of various atoms or molecules arranged in a uniform, repeating pattern based on its unique shape. This results in the material certain form and color and has other characteristic properties.

They may be large or small, but they all have the same "shape". Salt and sugar are examples. Table salt NaCl has a cubic structure. Snow crystals form a hexagonal structure. Diamond (used in jewelry And cutting tools) is also an example; it is pure carbon. Graphite (used in pencils and lubricants) is also a crystal made from carbon.

How do crystals grow?

In solution, the solvent (water) can only hold a certain amount of solute. This is called the solubility of the solution. If the temperature of the solution is increased, the hot water will be able to dissolve more solid, how cold water. This is because the heated water molecules move further apart, leaving room for the more solid to dissolve. When a solid ceases to dissolve, the solution is said to be saturated.

As this solution cools, the water molecules approach again, and the solution remains less space to hold the same amount of dissolved solid. As the water releases the excess solute, at this point the crystals begin to form and build on top of each other. This process is called recrystallization and, depending on the conditions, you can get a mass of numerous small or one large crystal.

How do crystals form and how do we control its growth rate?

In this experiment, you will grow crystals from a saturated solution. During recrystallization, the beginning of the crystal growth process is called "nucleation". Crystallization can be initiated by dust particles on the surface of the solution, but this situation is uncontrollable. To obtain controlled growth, the "seed crystal" is tied to a piece of thread and dipped into the solution. As the temperature of the solution continues to drop, more crystals accumulate on the string. The speed at which crystallization occurs will affect the quality. The best ones are the ones that grow SLOWLY.

KEY TERMS

A crystal is a solid body with a certain geometric shape. The shape consists of smooth, flat surfaces that meet at sharp edges or corners.

Crystallography is a branch of chemistry that studies crystals and their structure.

Nucleation - When dissolved molecules in a saturated solution collide with a dust particle or a hard surface (such as a string or seed crystal), they will tend to adsorb and accumulate on the surface. hard surface provides a nucleation site for crystal formation.

Recrystallization is a process that has been used to purify a solid by dissolving it in an appropriate liquid and then getting the material to come out of solution in crystalline form.

A saturated solution is a solution in which maximum amount dissolved substances.

The seed crystal is the initial surface for the growing one.

The shape of a crystal is atoms that occupy positions with certain geometric relationships to each other. This structural arrangement of its atoms is uniquely determined by the chemistry of the substance and determines the shape. In crystallography, shapes can be grouped into seven systems: cubic, tetragonal, hexagonal, trigonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic.

Solubility - The maximum amount of a solute that can be dissolved in a given volume of solvent at a given temperature is known as the solubility of the solute. The solubility of a solute generally increases with increasing temperature.

A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. For example, sugar dissolved in water is a solution.

A solvent is a liquid in which a solute is dissolved. In this project, the solvent is water.

Crystals can be grown from almost any substance. Crystals are obtained from proteins, iodine, various metals. Not many people know that even from the air you can get crystals by cooling it to certain temperature. However, in a normal environment, it is most easy to grow crystals from inorganic salts. In this article, we will look at 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 process of experience in the video

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

The very first thing to do before you start growing a crystal is to make a seed, that is, a crystal that is subsequently lowered into the solution. This crystal will continue to grow. The seed should be about the size of a pea.

To begin with, take a glass and pour salt into it about half or a third of the glass.

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