Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello
I was helping students with the crazy crystal (borax crystals) project and now our solution is solidified! There was no crystal formation. Is there any way to save this project or do we have to start over? How can we prevent solidification? I think we SUPER saturated the solution. Is there a more precise measurement?

Hi,

You may have added too much borax to the solution, causing the whole solution to crystallize. To save to project, you can try adding the crystallized borax to water and redissolving it, though this might take some time and effort.

You could try heating the water, but don't let it boil before removing it from the heat and adding the borax. Since the water would be cooler, less borax would dissolve before the solution was saturated, potentially preventing the issue you had.

Hope this helps,
Allison