Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Grow Sugar Salt Crystals for a Science Fair Project

Crystals don't have to form over millions of years in caves or on rocks. They are any group of atoms or molecules that form in a repetitive pattern and can be quickly duplicated using a few materials. Crystals have different shapes and form differently depending on the compound. Sugar crystals are oblong and grow slanted while salt crystals form in cubic patterns. It is a good idea for students to learn about how crystals form before conducting their experiment. Children can then experience the concepts in science fair demonstrations that bring learning beyond the classroom.

Things You'll Need

pot
pan
glass jar
salt
sugar
cardboard
string
paper weight

Instructions

- 1
  Boil four cups of water in a pot and add salt if you would like to form salt crystals or sugar if you want to form sugar crystals. Add the salt or sugar until it can no longer be dissolved. This is called supersaturation. The solution should be saturated enough so that a small amount of the salt or sugar collects on the bottom of the pot.
- 2
  Pour the hot solution of salt water, if making salt crystals, into a pan. Add a 5-by-5 piece of cardboard. Soak the cardboard in the pan enough so that the cardboard sinks to the bottom of the pan. The cardboard will be the surface on which the salt crystals form.
- 3
  Place the pan someplace where the water can easily evaporate such as by a window with direct sunlight. The evaporation can take up to three or four days.
- 4
  Pour the sugar crystals into a tempered glass jar. Tempered glass can withstand the hot liquid.
- 5
  Tie a paper weight to a string and dangle the loose end of the string into the glass jar. The sugar solution will evaporate and form crystals. This will also take a few days. Both the salt and sugar crystals can then be brought to a science fair and displayed with interesting information about how crystals form.

Other Hobbies