Borax Crystals
Happy cold Sunday! In school we have been learning about minerals and how they form from either magma or solutions. Before their test I offered them a chance to earn extra credit. We unfortunately didn't have time for them to do this project in class, but I REALLY wanted to give them a chance to do it. I figured if they did science at home they deserved extra credit. The parents and the kids loved this project. It looked like so much fun I decided to test it out myself. Figured I could use it for future classes with my own instructions instead of giving them instructions from an unknown source. It couldn't be easier and if you're impatient then this is perfect because borax crystals start to grow very quickly. Here is what you'll need:
Borax Crystals
Ingredients:
-Borax (can be tricky to find, found mine at Food Lion after several days of checking--in laundry detergent aisle)
-Water
-Heatable glass container (I used a large beaker)
-Heat source (I used a hot plate)
-Pipe cleaners
-String/Yarn
-Food coloring
-Pencil/stick
Directions:
1. Add water and food coloring to your glass container and bring to an almost boil. I heated my water in a beaker on my hot plate for these pictures. If you don't have as awesome as a Chemistry teacher as I do, I was also able to boil water in my tea pot and add it to my glass bowl at home.
2. While you're waiting. Wrap your pipe cleaners into any shape you want, but make sure it's sturdy. This is will be the foundation of your crystals. Tie this form to your pencil or stick with string or thread (anything sturdy enough to support the weight of the crystals. Tie the string so that your form will not touch the bottom of the container.
3. Once water is heated, add your borax about 2 Tbsp at a time. Stir until dissolved and repeat until you can't get any more to dissolve. You have now created a highly concentrated solution.
4. Turn off your heat source. Dunk your pipe cleaner form in and out of the solution to make sure there are no air bubles and the pipe cleaner is fully saturated. Let it sit so that it's not touching the sides or bottom of your container.
5. Cover with a magazine or book to keep heat inside. It's best if you leave your glass container on your heat source so it cools gradually, but you will still get crystal growth if you don't. Covering container is not required either, but you will not get as big of crystals if you remove from heat source and don't cover.
6. Now comes the hard part...wait. It's ok if you are impatient. You wil not hurt anything if you check it occasionally, but it is best if you leave it alone. Here is mine after only 2 hours, already lots of crystal growth.
7. It's best if you let it sit overnight. Here is mine after it's been sitting for 11 hours. Remove when you're ready, rinse, and let it dry on a paper towel.
8. Here is the second hardest part. Clean up. All of the other websites I read never mentioned how to clean it up. You will get crystals that incase your glass container. Well I thought just by reheating the solution I could melt the crystals for easier clean up. Let's just say I don't suggest doing this. My awesome beaker cracked and I had borax solution flood my counter. Major bummer. At home I just took a butter knife and poked at it like it was a chunk of ice. So, DO NOT REHEAT SOLUTION, but just break it out of the glass instead. Then wash container like normal because Borax is just a cleaner and is safe in dishwashers!
Doesn't this make you want to go and grow your own? What other types of crystals would you like me to try and grow next? Did you experiment and get different results? What fun shapes did you come up with?