Information About Growing Crystals

Crystal growing has come a long way since Magic Rocks.

Many people might remember the days of Magic Rocks, a popular kit that included everything you needed to grow your own colorful crystals. You just added water and within minutes the "rocks" started to grow, eventually reaching a height of up to 4 inches.

Crystal growing has come a long way since the first Magic Rocks kits. Even the Smithsonian offers crystal growing kits for sale. Kits are not a necessity, however, but growing crystals from scratch takes time, patience and the correct materials.

Materials

Set up a laboratory.

Plan on setting up a little laboratory stocked with chemicals, Bunsen burners, gram scales, a small pot in which to heat liquids, a spoon to stir your solutions and mason jars. According to Mike Lee, a physics major at Davidson College, "Preferably, mason jars, spoons, and pans should be chosen that are not intended for human food use in the future."

Creating Seed Crystals

Dissolve alum powder in hot water.

Detergent chemist Allan Campbell explains on his site, Kiwi Web, how to create seed crystals using alum powder: Gently heat a pint of water in a pan and dissolve 4 ounces of alum powder. Keep adding the powder until no more will dissolve. Pour a small amount of the solution into a saucer and let the water evaporate. Seed crystals take only a few days to grow.

Preparing Seed Crystals for Growth

Choose a pretty, clear crystal.

Choose a small, clear crystal and tie it to a fishing line attached to a pencil. The pencil will go across the top of a mason jar, suspending the seed into the jar of saturated solution. A solution becomes saturated when you cannot dissolve any more alum in the water. If your solution is not saturated enough, the seed crystal will dissolve when you place it in the jar.

Two Methods for Growing Crystals

The evaporative method creates better crystals.

The evaporative method is slow, but it creates the best crystals. Suspend your seed crystal in an open jar of saturated salt solution. The liquid evaporates and deposits material on the seed crystal.

Super-cooling can result in cloudy crystals. Heat your saturated solution, adding a bit of extra salt. Add your seed after the solution has cooled to room temperature. Once again the seed crystals picks up excess material. Crystals can appear overnight using this method whereas they may take a week or more using the evaporative method.

Troubleshooting

Crystal

If your crystal stops growing, then all of the excess material has been deposited on the crystal, and you may need to saturate your solution again. First, remove your crystal. Then heat the solution to reduce the amount of solvent. Or you can dissolve more of your alum in the solution. Let it cool and replace your crystal.

If your solution becomes unsaturated, the crystal may shrink or disappear. It is important that you don't let your solution get too warm or your crystal will dissolve.

References

• Web Physics: Growing Crystals of Your Own
• Kiwi Web: Growing Crystals
• The Wizard's Cove: Preparation of Seed Crystals

Resources

• Web Physics: Recipes for Growing Crystals