Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I tried the borax crystal growing and 2 things happened:
1) the crystal grew, but the facets were very large and hence the crystal looked dull
2) crystals formed from n the bottom of the beaker in a solid fashion.
Can anyone tell me how to create crystals with smaller facets, and how to avoid the overgrowth on the bottom of the beaker. Thanks

Hi Tarynn,

This sounds like a fun experiment! There are lots of factors that affect crystalization processes, including rate of cooling, impurities, roughness of the container, etc. This article from Scientific American discusses the borax experiment specifically.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... -crystals/

The article suggests that if you cool the supersaturated solution quickly (in a bowl of ice) you will get smaller faceted crystals. But you will include more impurities in the crystals that way, so they may be even duller. Slow crystallization allows time for the impurities to be rejected from the forming crystals.

Best regards,
Dr. Payne

In addition to the link to the Science Buddies activity at Scientific American that Dr. Payne provided, here is the link to the activity on the Science Buddies site: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-act ... w-crystals

Explanatory information can be found in the "What Happened" (under the procedure) and "Explore More" sections.

If you are working on a science project (rather than an activity for fun), the project version can be found here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... background

The Background tab has information that may help with your questions.

Amy
Science Buddies

Thank you for your replies!! Much appreciated. I will update with photos of my new crystal attempts Also, do you have any suggestions for the type of dye to use to get the best colour without adding too many impurities?
Thanks again!