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Step 15Try it out!
After your final solution has cooled to near or below room temperature (it doesn't have to be cold), it's time to see if you can trigger crystallization.
Gently set your container down on a hard surface and remove the lid or covering. Using tweezers (or clean, dry fingers), pick up one or two small crystals from the test dish you set aside in step 13, and drop them into the solution.
You should see a mesmerizing "bloom" of long, thin crystals growing outward from the crystals you dropped into the solution, growing at maybe 1 cm / sec.
Pick up the container after crystallization finishes - note how warm it is. That's excess energy, effectively stored by the supersaturated solution, and released when the sodium acetate crystallizes.
Note also that the crystals you see in the container are actually sodium acetate trihydrate. Once crystallization begins, one sodium ion and one acetate ion will join together with three water molecules. If you were to gently heat these crystals, as the water is driven off, they'd turn pure white and powdery (instead of milky white and translucent), and you'd be left with anhydrous sodium acetate.
After crystallization, recharge the solution while still in the same container by double boiling it - place the container into a pot, fill the pot with water to or just below the level of the solution in its container, and bring the water to a boil. If your container is sealed (with a lid or stopper), you'll want to break the seal first to allow for air expansion and contraction during heating and cooling.
Here's a video showing about 525 mL of my solution doing its thing:
Gently set your container down on a hard surface and remove the lid or covering. Using tweezers (or clean, dry fingers), pick up one or two small crystals from the test dish you set aside in step 13, and drop them into the solution.
You should see a mesmerizing "bloom" of long, thin crystals growing outward from the crystals you dropped into the solution, growing at maybe 1 cm / sec.
Pick up the container after crystallization finishes - note how warm it is. That's excess energy, effectively stored by the supersaturated solution, and released when the sodium acetate crystallizes.
Note also that the crystals you see in the container are actually sodium acetate trihydrate. Once crystallization begins, one sodium ion and one acetate ion will join together with three water molecules. If you were to gently heat these crystals, as the water is driven off, they'd turn pure white and powdery (instead of milky white and translucent), and you'd be left with anhydrous sodium acetate.
After crystallization, recharge the solution while still in the same container by double boiling it - place the container into a pot, fill the pot with water to or just below the level of the solution in its container, and bring the water to a boil. If your container is sealed (with a lid or stopper), you'll want to break the seal first to allow for air expansion and contraction during heating and cooling.
Here's a video showing about 525 mL of my solution doing its thing:
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Sep 28, 2011. 6:40 PMskulendran
says:
hey, i was just wondering. you said if you heated the crystals, water would be driven off and it would produce a white powder (anhydrous sodium accetate). but how would you go about doing that? could i just put the crystals in a pan on low heat?
Reply
Oct 8, 2010. 12:10 PMErebo2005
says:
Good, clear and simple. Thanks
Reply
1
Nov 1, 2010. 1:26 PMh0meIandsecurity
says:
LISTEN EVERYONE!!! LISTEN, LISTEN! IF YOU WANT IT TO BE CLEAR (NOT DARK OR BROWN) YOU WILL DO ALL THE SAME BUT REDUCE TEMPERATURE OF BOILING AND INCREASE TIME!!! :=)
Reply
May 1, 2010. 2:25 PMryanmuller
says:
All other sodium acetate I've seen dissolves clear in water... is there any way to achieve this? I need it to look like plain ordinary water.
Reply
Jun 23, 2010. 1:50 AMdragon181818
says:
For a "water" look, you will need either: laboratory grade chemicles or to buy it online. About 500 grams is like $25 If you need help, consult youtube :)
Reply
8
Jan 27, 2010. 5:14 PMPizzapie500
says:
Cool! But I'm not "too much of a nerd" so I bought the sodium acetate of ebay. For some reason, mine was like 20 times faster than yours, and it would go off w/o me putting a crystal in it. I made this like a year ago and kept some in my fridge. Do you think I can bring it to school to show my teacher? Or will it go off in my backpack?
Reply
Mar 11, 2009. 3:36 PMquaggaquagg
says:
Amazing! Although it IS obvious that you used a sodium acetate solution. Can't fool us! Ha ha ha!
Reply
1
Mar 12, 2009. 9:27 AMindigoandblack (author)
says:
Er... sorry? I don't quite understand your comment... Of course I used a "sodium acetate solution" - that's what this whole instructable is about: making sodium acetate.
Reply
Jan 9, 2010. 11:05 AMpatcullen
says:
quaggaquagg must have fallen asleep for the first 14 steps of this tutorial... thanks for taking the effort to post this - im gonna give it a shot tomorrow.
Reply
Jun 3, 2009. 12:14 PMKaber
says:
For how long do I recharge (double boil) the crystals? and will this cause them to be a white, powdery substance? Thanks
Reply
1
Jun 3, 2009. 4:03 PMindigoandblack (author)
says:
Until they've completely dissociated back into solution. It could take maybe 20 minutes or more. It won't cause them to be "powdery" - they will redissolve.
Reply
1
Aug 17, 2009. 5:57 AMminime12358
says:
Just curious, is it necessary to recharge in order to make hot ice with it? And what kind of container could you put in boiling water without exploding or melting?
Reply
1
Aug 17, 2009. 10:58 PMindigoandblack (author)
says:
I'm not quite sure what exactly you mean by "make hot ice with it". "Hot ice" simply refers to the crystalline sodium acetate trihydrate that forms when the saturated solution is triggered with a starter crystal. It looks sort of like ice, but it's hot when it crystallizes (the crystallization releases heat). Once crystallized, the process can be repeated by "recharging" (double boiling until the crystal returns to solution). As far as the container question goes... I can't think of any containers I have that would explode in boiling water... ;-) but I'd say glass would do nicely without melting. :-)
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