How to Make Salt Crystals

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The fact that crystals appear from a glass of water is probably a miracle to many people. In fact, crystals are made up of substances that are soluble in water. This article will help you to grow crystals yourself, through which you will understand more about their formation.

Table of Contents

Create salt crystals

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Heat water in a saucepan. You just need to put in a pan of 120 ml is enough. Heat the water until it boils.

Children need adult supervision when heating or using hot water.
Using filtered water is better than tap water. ^{[1] X Trusted Source Science Buddies Go to Source}
When boiling water, the water molecules move faster.

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Choose salt. There are many different types of salts, each of which will form crystals with different shapes and structures. Here are a few salts and their crystal characteristics:

Table salt takes several days to form crystals. “Iodized” salt is difficult to form perfect crystals, but you can still see crystals appear. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Magnesium sulfate salts (also called epsom salts) will form crystals that are smaller than table salt crystals and are needle-shaped. The crystal formation time of this salt is shorter than table salt, you can buy epsom salt at the drugstore or chemical store.
Aluminum salts are very easy to crystallize, sometimes it only takes a few hours for you to see the crystals with the naked eye. ^{[3] X Research Source} You can buy this salt in the spice section of supermarkets or at chemical stores.

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Dissolve as much salt as possible. Remove the pan from the heat, add about 50-100 grams of salt to the pan and stir until the solution in the pan becomes transparent. If the above salt is completely dissolved in the water (i.e. you don’t see any salt particles in the solution), add another teaspoon. Stir well until there are salt particles that cannot be dissolved into the solution.

This is the way to create a supersaturated solution . This is the state in which the solution (liquid part) contains more salts than water can normally dissolve.

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Pour the above solution into a clean vial. Carefully pour the solution into a jar or a clear, heat-resistant container. The container must be very clean so as not to affect the crystallization process. (Crystallization is the process of forming crystals from solution.)

Pour the solution slowly into the container and take care not to let the salt particles in the solution fall into the flask. If there are salt particles in the jar, the crystals will begin to crystallize around the beads instead of on the wire you will place in the next steps.
Since a supersaturated solution is very unstable, the salt will separate from the solution when it is stirred. This means crystals will begin to form and the solution will cool.

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If desired, you can add food coloring to the jar. With just a few drops of food coloring, you can color your crystals. Coloring can make the crystal not beautiful, but it does not affect too much.

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Tie a layered hemp, parachute, or twine thread around the pencil. The length of the pencil should be enough to lay horizontally across the mouth of the jar. You can also use a plastic or wooden stick, as long as the stick is the right length.

The small crevices and rough surface of the wire are ideal places for salt crystals to attach and crystallize. ^{[4] X Research Source} You should therefore not use lines with smooth surfaces such as fishing lines.

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Cut the rope to a length just enough for the entire rope to be suspended in the solution. The crystal will only stick to the wire that is dipped in the solution, so you need to cut enough so that the end of the wire does not touch the bottom of the jar, if the wire is too long the crystal will form a messy and rough mass.

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Place the pencil or stick across the mouth of the jar. The pencil lanyard needs to be dropped into the solution. Sticky tape can be used to secure the pencil to the body of the bottle if the pencil slips out of the mouth of the bottle.

Try not to let the wire touch the wall of the jar as this will cause the crystals to begin to crystallize on the wall in an inward direction, which will later form an ugly mass.

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Place the jar in a stable, safe place. Be careful not to let pets or children get near. You can choose the location of the vase by following a few tips below:

To create a large crystal, place the jar in a place that receives a lot of sun or in front of a fan (run at minimum wind). In this way the crystal can be only up to a certain extent and quite small in size.
Choose a shady place if you want to get a large single crystal instead of a cluster of crystals. ^{[5] X Research Source} The vial can be placed on a sponge or other shock-absorbing material, which reduces vibrations and shocks. ^{[6] X Research Source} (Although there’s still a chance you’ll end up with a messy cluster of crystals, there will be large crystals in it).
Magnesium sulfate (and a few other uncommon salts) crystallize faster in the refrigerator than in high temperature.

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Wait for the crystal to crystallize. Regularly check that crystals have crystallized on the wire. Magnesium sulfate and aluminum salts can crystallize in just a few hours, but it can also take several days before you see crystals. Table salt usually begins to crystallize after one to two days, sometimes as long as a week. The tiny crystals you see on the string will continue to increase in size over the next few weeks.

As the water cools down, the amount of salt in the solution is still higher than the amount of salt that can be dissolved in the cold water. This makes the salt molecule in the solution unstable, leading to dehydration and clinging to the rope. ^{[7] X Source of Study} When water evaporates, salt molecules remain in solution, where the increased instability makes them more likely to crystallize.

Growing a large single crystal

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Feed a full crystal cup. To grow a large cluster of crystals, simply follow the steps above but be careful to use distilled water and not wire and sticks/pencils. Just pour the brine solution into the container and wait a few days you will see a layer of crystals appear on the bottom of the jar.

It is better to use a shallow, flat and wide-mouthed jar than a tall one. This type of container will make it easy to get separate crystals that won’t stick to other crystals. ^{[8] X Research Sources}
This method is difficult to apply with magnesium sulfate salt, you can use aluminum salt, table salt or salts listed below.

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Choose a germ crystal. Once you have the crystals, pour the solution away and observe the crystals. Use tweezers to pick up the crystal and consider picking out the “germ crystal”. The seed crystal will be the nucleus / sprout for you to grow a new larger crystal. Choose the seed crystal that matches the following points (in descending order of importance): ^{[9] X Research Source}

Choose a single crystal that does not stick to another crystal.
Choose crystals with even flat surfaces and straight edges.
Choose crystals as large as possible (at least the size of a pea.) ^{[10] X Research Source}
It is best to select a few single crystals that meet the above conditions, and then place them in separate flasks or jars. In fact, crystals often dissolve or fail to grow, so it’s better to have redundancy.

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Attach a piece of fishing line or line with a smooth surface. Use super glue (elephant glue, for example) to attach one end of the wire to the crystal or wrap the wire around the crystal.

With this method, you should not use hemp rope or wire with rough surfaces. Because with smooth wire the crystal will not crystallize on the wire but will crystallize on the surface of your seed crystal.

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Create a new solution. Prepare distilled water and salt of the same grade as the germ crystals. In this step, you just need to boil the water warmer than room temperature. Dissolve the salt in the water as we did in method 1, our goal is to prepare a sufficiently saturated solution. An unsaturated solution can dissolve the germ crystal, while an oversaturated solution will cause the salt particles to stick to the germ crystal, which will eventually form an unsightly mess. ^{[11] X Research Source}

There are a few ways that can quickly help you improve the above situation, but these methods have the disadvantage that they are quite complicated and require you to have knowledge of chemistry. ^{[12] X Research Source}

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Place the germ crystals and fresh solution in a clean container. To clean the container, you should wash it carefully and then rinse it with distilled water. Pour the freshly prepared saturated solution into the flask, then hang the suspended crystals in the center of the flask. The way to store the jar is as follows:

Place the jar in a cool, dark place, in a cardboard box, for example.
Line the bottom of the jar with a foam pad or a shock-absorbing, impact-reducing material.
Cover the top of the pot with a piece of coffee filter paper, a piece of paper or a thin cloth to prevent dust from getting into the solution inside. Take care not to use materials that prevent air and steam from circulating through the vessel.

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Check crystals often. The crystal growth will slow down during this time because the salt particles only begin to adhere to the germ crystal when some of the water has evaporated from the solution. Under favorable conditions, the crystal mass will grow in the shape of the seed crystal that you have implanted. In general, crystals can grow in size within a few weeks, but you can also “harvest” them at any time.

About every 2 weeks you should filter the solution with coffee filter paper or thick cloth to remove dirt. ^{[13] X Research Source}
This is a long and not easy process. Even experienced crystal growers fail at times because the seed crystals are dissolved in solution or the crystals grow unevenly. If you have selected a perfect seed crystal, try testing the brine solution first with another seed crystal to make sure the saturation of the solution is appropriate.

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Use nail polish to create a protective layer. When the crystal has reached the desired size, lift it out of the solution and let it dry. You can apply a clear coat of nail polish to the crystal surface. ^{[14] X Research Source}

Types of salt

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Experiment with a few different types. Many substances will crystallize if you use the method outlined in this article. You can buy most of these salts at chemical stores. Here are a few suggestions for you:

The solder will give white crystals or can be dyed.
Copper sulfate salt will give blue crystals ^{[15] X Research Source}
Chromium aluminum salt for purple crystals ^{[16] X Research Source}
Copper(I) acetate salt monohydrates water (copper acetate monohydrate) forming dark blue crystals ^{[17] X Research Source}
Warning : Some salts are harmful when entering the body through the digestive tract, inhalation, or in direct contact with the skin. Therefore you need to read the safety instructions on the label and do not expose children to these chemicals without adult supervision.

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Snowflake shape. First make a star shape by tying string (with rough surface) together. Drop this star into the brine tank, the tiny salt crystals will crystallize on the string and form a sparkling snowflake. ^{[18] X Research Sources}

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Create a crystal garden. Instead of just growing a crystal, why don’t we make a whole crystal garden? Prepare the saturated brine solution as indicated, then pour it into a sponge-lined container or a large charcoal tablet. Then pour a little vinegar into the jar and leave it overnight. ^{[19] X Research Source}

Pour in just enough brine solution to fully wet the sponge.
To form crystals of different colors, you can fill the jar with several individual sponges, then add a few drops of food coloring to each one.

Advice

Dust particles in the water can cause rough, rough crystals. Therefore, a piece of paper covering the mouth of the container can help prevent dust from entering the solution, while still allowing evaporated water to escape from the flask, thereby increasing the rate of crystallization.

Attention

Wash your hands after using magnesium sulfate and aluminum salts. Usually these two salts are not harmful, but can cause skin irritation. Above all, do not eat or swallow them. ^{[20] X Research Source}

Things you need

A jar or container
Water (recommended to use distilled or deionized water)
Table salt, magnesium sulfate salt (epsom salt) or aluminum salt
A rope
Pencil
Food coloring (optional)
Pan
Spoon for stirring

Steps