Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

My son is in 3rd grade and is doing a science fair project on borax crystals. His question is "what temp grows the largest crystals?" Room, ice bath, refrig. We are having a hard time finding research on how borax crystals grow and form. Help

Hi Tangie - Is your son doing this project from Science Buddies, by chance: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p082.shtml
Crazy Crystal Creations: How to Grow the Best and the Largest Crystals.

That project contains a hands-on experiment that looks at the affect of temperature on the formation of crystals using borax and water.

In addition to the introductory material, you and your son may find some of the bibliography resources helpful for learning more about crystals.

If he has additional questions, please post back to this same topic, and an Expert will assist you!

Amy
Science Buddies

Hi Tangie,

This is a really excellent project! It's great that you want to make sure your son understands the science behind his project. Amy has given you a really good suggestion to read the introduction to the science buddies project for information on how crystals are formed as this includes the basic information your son needs to know. Here are some more resources that will help understand this process.

Here is a slide from an on-line general chemistry that shows the difference between unsaturated, saturated, and supersaturated solutions. This is the basis for understanding crystallization.

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senes ... sld003.htm

Here is an article on crystallization that you will have to read and explain the basic to your son. It's a little technical, so let me know if you have any questions.

http://www.cheresources.com/content/art ... allization

Here are a couple of YouTube videos that show crystallization from supersaturated solutions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... aGX6PoVneU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdYS-3J8 ... re=related

Let us know if you have any questions.

Donna Hardy