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hi, i tried the science experiment in which you grow borax crystals. after i followed the experiment i waited twelve hours, i checked it every hour and the crystals( if they were crystals)turned out soft and squishy almost like a foamy layer. is this supposed to happen? if not what do i need to fix? thanks
Leah
borax crystals never grew
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leahp
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:32 am
- Occupation: student: 9th grade
- Project Question: i tried the experimentin which you grow borax crystals, and the crystals never formed. A soft squishy material formed on top. do you know why this happenedand what i can fix to grow thecrystals? thanks
- Project Due Date: the 3rd of january 2014
- Project Status: I am finished with my experiment and analyzing the data
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deleted-2131
- Former Expert
- Posts: 1415
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2003 11:27 pm
- Occupation: Planetary Scientist
- Project Question: N/A
- Project Due Date: N/A
- Project Status: Not applicable
Re: borax crystals never grew
Hi leahp,
I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble with your crystals. First, just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, are you talking about this project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p082.shtml ?
Did anything grow on the string? Or did you only see the foamy stuff on top of the water?
For the crystals to grow, it's really important that the solution is saturated when the water is hot. Otherwise, the solution will not be supersaturated when it cools, and crystals won't form (the background information to the project idea discusses this, if you want some more details). Did you boil the water before dissolving the borax in it? Did you add the borax while the water was still hot, stirring after each tablespoon was added? Did you keep adding borax and stirring until you couldn't get any more to dissolve (i.e., you still saw undissolved borax no matter how much you stirred)?
Did you keep track of what volume of water you used to make the solution and how much borax you added to it? If you know those amounts, I can do a quick calculation and tell you if the solution is saturated or not.
Post back with the answers to these questions, and I'll help you troubleshoot from there. I will get an email when you post a reply, and I will get back to you within 24 hours of your post.
I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble with your crystals. First, just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, are you talking about this project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p082.shtml ?
Did anything grow on the string? Or did you only see the foamy stuff on top of the water?
For the crystals to grow, it's really important that the solution is saturated when the water is hot. Otherwise, the solution will not be supersaturated when it cools, and crystals won't form (the background information to the project idea discusses this, if you want some more details). Did you boil the water before dissolving the borax in it? Did you add the borax while the water was still hot, stirring after each tablespoon was added? Did you keep adding borax and stirring until you couldn't get any more to dissolve (i.e., you still saw undissolved borax no matter how much you stirred)?
Did you keep track of what volume of water you used to make the solution and how much borax you added to it? If you know those amounts, I can do a quick calculation and tell you if the solution is saturated or not.
Post back with the answers to these questions, and I'll help you troubleshoot from there. I will get an email when you post a reply, and I will get back to you within 24 hours of your post.
All the best,
Terik
Terik