Chemistry Crystals!

by mayday12

22K13211

Intro: Chemistry Crystals!

Here's a way to make cheap and easy epsom salt crystals in only hours. It's a fun way to observe science and engage in learning at the same time. The materials only cost about a dollar, making this a quick, clean, inexpensive, and simple. (That is if you don't already have them)

STEP 1: What You Need

The only ingredients in making this experiment are 1/4 cup of epsom salt, a 1/4 cup of hot water, a fork, food coloring, a beaker or a bowl, and a refrigerator. These are easily obtainable objects that can be purchased almost anywhere.

STEP 2: Process

Dump the epsom salt and the hot water into the beaker. Then, you must repeatedly stir for a minute or so with the fork. The hotter the water, the faster the salt will dissolve. Soon, no more salt may dissolve in the water, thus creating a saturated solution. While stirring, add in a couple drops of food coloring, and thoroughly mix that in. Finally, place the solution into the refrigerator. Try to cool it rapidly for faster crystal growth. Check on it each hour to notice results.

STEP 3: Stages

Hour 1:Looks like block of ice with small needle-like cavities
Hour 2: Some notable growth
Hour 3: Some notable growth
Hour 4: negligible growth
Hour 5: negligible growth

Overall, you will only need to wait about three hours. (although this does depend on the temperature of the water and how drastically it drops in the fridge)

STEP 4: Final Step

The last step is to take the beaker, put it over the sink, and use your hands to drain excess water... You will soon find yourself with many small, needle-like epsom crystals! This works because the epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate) atoms create a crystal structure by running into each other. This creates numerous scientifically fun crystals...

11 Comments

jbrown146 10 years ago

table salt is sodium chloride and epsom salts are magnesium sulfate heptahydrate but the table salt will also form crystals give it a shot

mayday12 10 years ago

I would not try consuming this because it contains rock salt. it probably wouldn't be the best idea

chewie616 10 years ago

thats cool i will have to do that

RickiDuff842 10 years ago

Can you do this with normal table salt?

mayday12 10 years ago

I'm not quite sure but that would be a great experiment.

mayday12 11 years ago

cool. Have you tried this yet?

mayday12 11 years ago

cool... again. Where do you work? I mean what's an "organic" chemistry lab?