Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

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

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.