How to Make Crystals With a String

Making Salt Crystals

• 1

  Fill a glass jar with warm or hot water. Pour several tablespoons of non-iodized salt into the water and stir it thoroughly until all of the salt is dissolved. Add additional spoonfuls of salt to the solution, stirring between each addition, until the salt is no longer dissolved by the water and begins to accumulate on the bottom of the jar.

• 2

  Wrap a coarse string around a pencil and tie them together securely. Lower the string into the salt solution so that the bottom of the string is slightly above the bottom of the jar -- turn the pencil to shorten the string length. Attach a paper clip to the end of the string if it needs to be weighed down. Use tape to secure the pencil to the jar to minimize movement.

• 3

  Store the jar in a location that is unlikely to be jostled or disturbed. Check the jar every few days to monitor crystal growth on the string. Allow the solution to sit for several weeks to grow larger crystals.

Growing Sugar Crystals

• 4

  Tie a coarse string to a pencil and attach a paper clip to the end of the string to weigh it down. Moisten the string with water and roll it in granulated sugar. Allow the string to dry, forming small sugar crystals along its length.

• 5

  Create a sugar solution by pouring several cups of water into a pot and adding 2 cups of granulated sugar for every cup of water. Heat the water to a low boil and stir it until all of the sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour the sugar solution into a glass jar.

• 6

  Place the pencil over a glass jar and lower the string into the sugar solution. Adjust the string so that its bottom is slightly above the bottom of the jar. Use tape to secure the pencil to the jar and cover the opening of the jar with a small towel.

• 7

  Place the jar in a location that is unlikely to be jostled or disturbed. Monitor the sugar crystal growth every several days and remove the string when the crystal is sufficiently large.