Creative work, about crystals. How to grow a crystal from salt at home. How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate. Conditions for growing crystals, from salt, from sugar. Instructions for growing crystals Need crystals

Much has become possible for modern man: nanotechnology, artificial insemination, the study of distant galaxies. What can we say about the cultivation of minerals at home. Yes, yes, each of us today can grow a real crystal in our kitchen without laboratory equipment and scientific knowledge. All that is required is ingenuity, patience and a few improvised materials.

Crystals, regardless of whether they are natural or artificial, amaze with their beauty, versatility and unusualness. That is why interest in home growing crystals is increasing. They are grown in the most unusual shapes and colors, using simple ingredients such as salt, soda, citric acid, dyes, etc.

You can grow the most beautiful and unique crystal for yourself using different methods, choosing the one that you like best. There are even special kits on sale for fans of home experiments, with which you can get crystals of simply incredible shapes.

Here are some photos of finished crystals that amateur chemists post online:

Video how to grow radiant crystals

To understand the essence and get the most fantastic crystal, you should watch a detailed video tutorial, and only then proceed to the unusual process of growing crystals.

Instructions on how to grow crystals

Growing homemade crystals is a simple and exciting process if you study the rules of the experiment in advance and prepare the right materials. The only negative is that the crystal grows for a rather long time, on average it takes at least a month.

The formation of a crystal lattice, its growth rate, color, density - all this depends on the quality of the prepared solution, the selected dishes, and the humidity of the external environment. These details must be taken seriously. But the first thing to start with is the selection of inventory.

To grow a beautiful crystal you need:

Crystal container. This is a kind of incubator that must comply with the rules: it must not oxidize, give off color, and deplete the smell. The best option is glass or enamelware. We exclude metal, clay, plastic dishes immediately. As for the size, there are no restrictions: it is important what size you need a crystal.
Stick for stirring the solution. Here again, the emphasis is on the material - we choose wood or glass.
Paper. In the process of growing, you will need white napkins good quality or filter paper.
The main component for the solution. It can be salt, sugar, soda or something else. This product is selected in accordance with the selected recipe.

Although solutions of different substances are used to grow crystals, the essence of the process itself is almost identical in all recipes.

The basic growing algorithm is as follows:

Salt or other ingredient is dissolved in hot water until a concentrated solution is obtained.
The seed base for the crystal (this may be a large piece of salt) is washed in water and immersed in the prepared solution.
The container with the solution is tightly closed. Remove the lid after about 24 hours. Somewhere in the 3-4 week, a large crystal will already be noticeable.
As soon as the top of the crystal emerges on the surface of the solution, the liquid is drained, and the crystal is carefully removed from the container.
Then the crystal is dried and kept in a place protected from water and its beauty is admired.

How to grow a crystal from vitriol at home, step by step instructions

If you don’t surprise anyone with a colorless crystal, then a bright blue crystal will definitely become a real surprise. To create such beauty, a special ingredient is used - copper sulfate. It gives a brighter and more natural shade of blue than food coloring.

This substance is sold in stores with goods for the garden and garden. It is a chemical substance, so it is not suitable for creativity with children.

If you follow the following instructions, in a couple of weeks you will grow a gorgeous dark blue crystal:

Pour distilled water into a glass container.
Dissolve powder in it blue vitriol until the granules cease to dissolve in water.

Dip a simple thread into the solution, fixing one edge above the container. Wait a few hours for small crystals to form on the thread.
Choose the one you like best and leave it on the thread, and disconnect the rest and set aside.

Lower the thread with the crystal again into the solution, fixing the structure so that it does not touch the bottom of the container. Give the crystal a few weeks and it will grow blue.
After removing the crystal from the water, dry it and cover it with a colorless varnish to ensure its safety.

How to grow a crystal from salt quickly

Crystals grow well from salt, but most recipes call for plain table salt. It is certainly suitable, but if you are not very patient or you need a crystal as soon as possible, we advise you to use sea salt. It will not only accelerate the rate of formation of a crystal array, but also make it much stronger. But, no matter what kind of salt you take, appearance crystal will remain unchanged - it will be large, white, slightly transparent and, of course, will resemble bizarrely shaped salt.

Let's start growing a salt crystal:

Take boiled spring or filtered water, pour into a glass jar.
Mix a lot in it sea salt, and when its crystals refuse to dissolve, strain the solution through gauze.

Pour the solution back into the jar, select a salt crystal big size, tie a thread to it and lower it into the solution. Then cool the solution quickly (this will accelerate the formation of small crystals on the base).

Wait a week to a month depending on the size of the crystal you need.
Wipe it dry with a napkin, if desired, treat it.

How to grow a crystal from sugar

Sugar crystals are not just a masterpiece of homemade art, but also an unusual delicacy. Just imagine that you will become the creator of edible crystals! Just remember to use the highest quality products.

So, let's begin:

Prepare simple sugar, you can use food coloring if you wish, you will also need wooden sticks, water and a few napkins.

Take 2 tbsp. water and 5 tbsp. sugar, but we will not use them immediately. In a saucepan, heat ¼ tbsp. water and 2 tbsp. l. sugar - you will get a sweet syrup.
Pour a handful of sugar on a clean napkin and roll the sticks soaked in syrup in it. Make sure that the sugar sticks tightly around the entire stick, otherwise the crystal will be asymmetrical.

Let the prepared sticks dry well so that the sugar does not crumble.
While the blanks are drying, take a pan, send 2.5 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. water, boil the syrup. When all the sugar has dissolved, pour out the rest of the sugar and boil the syrup for 15 minutes.
Take several sheets of paper in the form of a square. Pierce them with chopsticks in the middle.

Then quickly pour the syrup into glasses, drop a few drops of multi-colored food coloring into each of them and immediately dip the sticks into them. The workpiece should not reach the bottom or touch the walls of the glass.
Thanks to the sheet, the stick will be securely fixed, in addition, the paper will be a shield that protects the syrup from the penetration of the saw and moisture.

Your crystals will grow in 7-14 days and will be quite edible even for kids. True, provided that natural dyes were used.

How to grow a crystal from citric acid

To grow a crystal, you will need about 180 g citric acid for every 100 g of water. Immediately make a reservation that the process is more complicated than in the case of using salt or sugar.

Growing process:

In water (100 ml) at a temperature of 20⁰С, dissolve citric acid (130 g). During operation, the container with the solution will need to be slightly heated so that the temperature is stably kept at 20⁰С. To do this, you can use another container with hot water, in which you can immerse a glass of citric acid. It is advisable to control the process with a thermometer.
Then, within a week, you need to add citric acid, until the moment when it stops dissolving. For this, the remaining 50 g of citric acid is enough for you. The solution will become like thick jelly, and small crystals will appear at the bottom.
At this stage, strain the solution. Wrap one crystal with a fishing line and immerse it in a seed solution.
After 7-10 days, the crystal will reach 10-12 cm in diameter. You can pull it out, dry it and varnish it, or continue growing it.

A citric acid crystal is very sensitive to temperature changes and can crack, so it needs to be grown in stable climatic conditions.

How to grow a colored crystal

If the cultivation of crystals from food has already been successfully mastered, you can aim at a homemade ruby. Of course, it will not be real, but no less attractive and bright. The chemical substance Potassium hexacyanoferrate (III), which is popularly called red blood salt, will help to get such a pebble. You can buy a substance without problems in an online store or a store with goods for the chemical industry. The crystal grows for about three weeks. At your discretion, you can grow a single crystal or a garden of many small crystals.

The process of growing domestic rubies:

Boil 175 ml of water, dissolve 100 g of red blood salt in it. The water temperature should not be lower than 90⁰С.

Now, if you need a single crystal, take a small crystal of ordinary salt, wrap a fishing line around it, use a wooden stick or pencil to fix the fishing line with the crystal on the glass so that it is immersed in the solution.
If you want to grow a crystal garden, take a smooth stone, granite is better, lower it to the bottom of the container with the solution.
Every day the crystal will increase. After three weeks, the crystal will begin to "peep" out of the water. At this point, it must be removed from the container, dried and covered with nail polish.
It is important to remember that red crystals are very fragile, so you need to work with them as carefully as possible.

How to grow a beautiful crystal

It is possible to quickly grow a crystal of a beautiful regular shape from aluminum alum. If you don't know what it is, we'll clarify: it's medicinal product(double salts) to stop external bleeding and stop the inflammatory process. It is sold in a pharmacy and costs a couple of rubles.

The process is pretty simple:

To get started, buy the necessary drug at the pharmacy. It looks like this:

Boil 0.5 l of water, dissolve in it 6 tbsp. l. alum.
Now it remains only to wait. The main thing is that until the crystals grow, do not disturb them: do not stir the solution, do not shake the container.
After a week, the crystals will noticeably grow:

Now select the seed crystal, make a hole in it, fix the thread, the other end of which is tied to the stick.

Dip the host crystal into the solution and wait 1-2 weeks. Its shape in the form of an octahedron will remain the same, but the size of the crystal will increase significantly.
You will get such an exclusive pendant:

How to grow a crystal in two days

It is impossible to grow the right crystal with beautiful edges from improvised substances in 1-2 days. At best, you will get a lot of small crystals spliced into one bizarre figure. But you can easily solve such a dilemma - buy a ready-made kit for growing crystals in two days. You can find it in any art store. The process is clear and accessible even for children. How to grow a radiant crystal in 48 hours will tell the video:

How to grow a crystal on a thread

To grow crystals on a thread, you need soda. Before starting the process, make sure all work surfaces are clean, as even the smallest speck can spoil all your efforts. To work, you will need two glass glasses, a pack of soda, woolen thread, boiling water.

Soda crystals on a string - growing:

Half fill the prepared glasses with boiling water. Send 6 tsp to each of them. soda.
When the soda dissolves, add another 3 tsp. powder and so on until it ceases to dissolve.
Take a thread 35 cm long, fasten a paperclip at its ends. Put the glasses with soda solution in one row, placing a saucer between them, immerse the ends of the thread in the glasses.

How to grow a crystal in an hour

How to grow a crystal from potassium permanganate

Diamond-shaped crystals of a beautiful dark purple hue grow from potassium permanganate. The growing process is the same as in the case of using salt or sugar. But the crystals are much more interesting.

How to grow:

Take 100 ml of water. Its temperature should not be lower than 20⁰С.
Dissolve 6-7 g of potassium permanganate in this amount.
When the solution becomes homogeneous, dip a salt crystal fixed on a fishing line into it.
Now, as usual, wait a few weeks watching the purple crystal grow.

How to grow a green crystal

Knowing the basics of chemistry, it is easy to grow a homemade crystal of an exclusive green color. Of course, the easiest way is to buy a special set in the store, but we suggest going the other way and conducting a real experiment.

Growing:

In the Garden and City store, buy Ammophos fertilizer based on ammonium dihydrogen phosphate. This substance will be the seed for growing a large crystal.
Take a small ball of styrofoam, wrap it with woolen thread like a ball.

Sprinkle the ball with Ammophos powder so that large crystals grow. Drop the ball into the empty glass.

In another glass, send 40 g of Ammophos and 10 g of green food coloring, pour 50 g of boiling water, mix everything and pour into a glass with a ball.
It is important to pour liquid along the edge of the container so as not to wash off the Ammophos solution from our ball. You need to fill the glass by ¾ because the ball will float to the surface (this is an important condition).
Now make a cylinder from an A4 paper sheet, put it on a glass, cover the structure with a napkin on top.
Already on the fifth day you will grow an excellent crystal.

Growing crystals at home will be something special for each of you. Someone will get involved in an unusual hobby, collecting their collection of crystals, someone will have fun with children, and someone will improve their knowledge of chemistry. But, in any case, you will have an informative time. Successful experiments!

Instruction

In order to grow a salt crystal at home, you should prepare necessary equipment, materials and tools.
1) The main ingredient is salt. The purer it is, the more successful the result of the experiment will be, and the clearer the crystal faces will be. Considering that table salt in most cases contains a large amount of small debris, it is better to give preference to sea salt without dyes and all kinds of additives.
2) It is also more correct to take water that is maximally purified from various impurities, i.e. distilled. If one is not at hand, pre-filter plain water.
3) For growing crystals, use a thoroughly washed non-metallic container that will not oxidize under the influence of salts. Better take glassware. If even the smallest specks still appear inside the bowl, they will certainly slow down the growth of the main crystal, turning into a kind of basis for the development of small specimens.
4) The basis for the future large crystal can be either a small crystal of salt or any other object, for example, a wire, a thread, a piece of a branch.
5) Also useful when forming a crystal from salt is a wooden stick for stirring the solution, paper napkins, filter or gauze, varnish for coating the finished salt crystal.

Prepare the materials and tools necessary for growing a crystal, be patient and get to work. The process itself will not require special participation from you. In a glass cup, prepare a saturated saline solution from 100 ml of hot water and 40 g of salt, let the liquid cool and pass it through filter paper or cheesecloth folded in several layers.

The next step is to place the object, around which the crystal will subsequently form, into a container with saline. If you want to get a copy of the traditional form, put an ordinary grain of salt in the bottom of the cup. If you want to grow an elongated crystal, tie a grain of salt to a thread and fasten it in a container so that it does not touch its bottom and walls. If your plans are to obtain a complex bizarre shape, a small curved twig or twisted wire should serve as the basis for the future crystal. As a basis for a crystal, you can use absolutely any object that is not subject to salt oxidation.

Be sure to cover the cup with the crystal with a lid, a sheet of paper or a napkin to prevent debris and dust from getting into it. Next, send the container for storage in a dark, cool place without drafts and provide it with complete peace of mind. During the development of the crystal, do not allow changes in air humidity and sudden changes in temperature in the room where it is located, exclude its shaking and too frequent movements. Do not place the crystal near heating appliances and near the stove.

As the crystal grows, the salt content of the liquid surrounding it will decrease. With this in mind, once a week add a saturated saline solution to the container. When the crystal grows to the required size, carefully remove it from the liquid, place it on a clean paper napkin and gently pat soft cloth. In order for the fragile crystal to gain strength, cover it with a colorless nail polish. If this is not done, the craft will collapse. In a dry air environment, the crystal will crumble into powder, with high humidity it will turn into gruel.

White crystals are obtained from table and sea salt. You can get a craft of a different shade with the help of several simple ways.
1) A colored salt crystal can be obtained if you use not ordinary salt, but, for example, copper sulfate, which can endow the result of your work with a rich blue color.
2) Instead of clear nail polish, you can use a color coat to treat the crystal.
3) At the stage of preparing the crystal, add food coloring to the salt solution, for example, for coloring Easter eggs.

If you notice that the crystal does not take on the shape that was planned, carefully scrape off the excess areas with a sharp knife or nail file. Subsequently, treat those places of the crystal that you would not like to allow to grow with glycerin or any other thick fatty compound. You can remove the applied product with alcohol or acetone.

It is possible to fail in growing a crystal from salt for several reasons. First, a piece of salt taken as a basis can dissolve. This is usually indicated by an insufficiently saturated brine solution that you used to grow the craft. Secondly, instead of one large crystal, you can get several small ones at once. This can happen due to the presence of foreign impurities in the solution or the ingress of specks, dust particles and other undesirable objects into it. Thirdly, when obtaining colored specimens, the color of the finished crystals may turn out to be uneven. The main reason for this reaction is insufficiently thorough mixing of the dye after adding it to the brine.

A more or less decent-sized crystal will form no earlier than 3-4 weeks after placing its base in a saline solution, so be patient and do not forget to follow the basic recommendations for self-growing salt crystals at home.

natural rock crystals

For their education, special conditions are needed. For example, rock granite comprises crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica, which crystallized one after another as the magma cooled.

Beautiful hexagonal rock crystals grew from hot aqueous solutions saturated with SiO 2 silica.

natural sulfur crystals

Rhombic yellow crystals sulfur rose from the hydrogen sulfide waters of hot springs and geysers.

On the shores of salt lakes and seas one can see cubic crystals of rock salt - halite; white, red, yellow and even blue crystals of carnallite and mirabilite.

Diamonds, the hardest crystals, were formed under enormous pressure in the so-called explosion pipes (kimberlite pipes).

So, nature has created and continues to create mineral crystals. Can we see the mystery of crystal growth? Can we grow them ourselves? Yes of course we can. And now I will tell you how to do it at home.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SALT

grown salt crystals

In order to grow crystals of table (rock) salt (halite - NaCl), you need to put a container of water on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Then remove the container from the stove and dissolve the usual salt from the pack in it. While constantly stirring the solution, add salt until you notice that it no longer dissolves.

The resulting saline solution must be filtered and poured into a flat dish, for example, in a saucer. The water will cool down and begin to evaporate, and on the edges of the saucer and on its bottom you will see transparent cubes of the correct shape - these are rock salt crystals, halite.

You can grow a large crystal, or several large cubic crystals. To do this, put a woolen thread into the container in which you dissolved the salt. When the solution cools, it will be covered with salt cubes. The slower the solution cools, the more regular the crystals will be. After a while, the growth will stop.

To grow one large crystal, you need to choose one, the most correct, from the many crystals formed at the bottom, put it on the bottom of a clean glass, and pour the solution from the previous dish on top.

For the growth of the right crystals, rest is needed. You can not shake or move the table or shelf on which there is a container with growing crystals.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SUGAR

You can grow sugar crystals just like you can grow salt crystals. Sugar crystals can also be grown on wooden sticks and can be a nice addition to any holiday sweet dish. Food coloring added to the solution will color the sugar in all the colors of the rainbow.

sugar crystals

The following is a complete guide, how to grow sugar crystals on sticks.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM COPPER sulphate

Copper sulfate is sold in shops for gardeners, from it, and from slaked lime, they prepare "Bordeaux liquid" to protect plants from fungi and various diseases.

In order to grow a crystal of copper sulphate (Cu SO 4 * 5H 2 O) of the correct shape, powdered copper sulphate should be dissolved in water at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. With more high temperature the solubility of copper sulfate drops. Dissolve the powder until the dissolution stops. At the end of the wire or woolen thread we tie a seed - a small crystal of the same copper sulphate. Where to get it? You can search in the same package from which you poured the vitriol into the water, a larger crystal. If this is not found, leave your solution to cool, and after a while you will see small crystals at the bottom.

Choose one and tie (or glue) it to a piece of wire or thread. Filter the solution. Then lower the prepared seed (crystal on a thread) into it. Never immerse the seed in a hot solution! The seed may simply dissolve. A large crystal of copper sulphate grows for several weeks. A crystal grown to the desired size must be varnished, since the moisture contained in the air will eventually melt and destroy it.

They are grown in a similar way, a detailed article about this can be read by clicking on the link in this proposal.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM POTASSIUM ALUMS

grown crystals of potassium alum

Potassium alum (KAI 2 * 12H 2 O - mineral alunite ) sold in pharmacies in powder form. it good remedy, which "dries the skin" and kills pathogens, this substance does not cause allergies and is not toxic. Good crystals can be grown from potassium alum powder. Alum should be dissolved in warm water until saturated and the solution filtered. After a few days of being in a quiet place, at room temperature, small crystals will appear at the bottom of the container.

potassium alum (burnt alum) can be bought at a pharmacy

From these crystals, you need to select a few pieces of the correct shape and place them in another container. Then they are poured with the same solution. Seeds can be hung on thin threads (they can be glued to the thread with strong waterproof glue). Once every two or three days, the crystals must be transferred to a new glass, and the solution filtered and the growing crystals filled with it again. Alum crystals, grown to the desired size, should be varnished so that they do not melt from the moisture of the air and do not lose their shape.

Solutions for growing crystals should preferably be prepared with distilled water.

At home, you can get artificial malachite using blue vitriol and washing soda, but these will not be beautiful crystals or an openwork patterned stone, but a green or dirty green sediment at the bottom of the vessel (powder). Beautiful malachite, which practically does not differ from natural, can only be obtained using industrial equipment.

The enterprises also grow crystals of many minerals. But this cannot be repeated at home, this requires special equipment. Most crystals (quartz, amethyst, ruby, emerald, diamonds, malachite, garnets, etc.) are grown in cast-iron autoclaves under high pressure. Temperatures reach 500-1000 degrees, and pressure - 3000 atmospheres.

Crystal Grow Kits

crystal growing kit

Now in toy stores, in large cities, kits for growing crystals have appeared on sale. From powders ammonium and potassium dihydrogen phosphate, in which dyes are added, interesting prismatic and needle-shaped crystals can be grown. In order for the crystals to turn out to be large enough and beautiful, you must strictly follow the attached instructions.

Strangely, the instructions that are in the box shown in the photo do not indicate which chemical is used to grow the crystals and which dye is used. Other than that, it's pretty detailed.

Growing a real crystal is quite simple, interesting and informative. This article talks about how to do it at home.

Crystals are formed from any substances whose atoms and molecules are grouped into an ordered structure. They do not require a lab or special equipment to grow them. The simplest reagents that are always at hand will do.

Growing a crystal is one of the easiest and safest chemistry experiments available at home. Even a child of primary school age under the supervision of adults can conduct it.

The reward for your efforts will be an item of extraordinary beauty that you create with your own hands.

Types of crystals

A monocrystal is a single large crystal, for example, fake diamond. It is formed under the condition that the crystallization processes are extremely slow.
A polycrystal is formed when crystallization proceeds rapidly. In this case, many tiny crystals are formed. This is how metals behave.

Ways to grow crystals at home

One of the easiest ways to grow a crystal is to cool a saturated solution. What processes take place?

In warm water, the substance chosen for the experiment (for example, salt) dissolves completely.
The temperature of the solution is lowered: this reduces the solubility of the salt. An undissolved salt is formed, which precipitates.
The formation of a precipitate begins with the formation of small grains both in the solution itself and on the surface of the container in which it is placed.
If there are no foreign inclusions in the solution (ordinary dust particles, villi, etc.), and cooling occurs gradually, these grains-crystals coalesce into larger and regular crystals.
Rapid cooling causes the formation of many tiny irregular crystals at once, which do not connect with each other and inhibit each other's growth.

The crystal will also grow if the solvent (water) is gradually removed from the saturated solution. How to do this and what will happen in the vessel?

Dishes with a saturated solution must be kept at a constant temperature for a long time.
The ingress of litter and dust should be excluded, as well as slowing down the evaporation of water (for this, it is enough to cover the container with paper).
You can grow a crystal on some kind of suspension in the middle of the container (then it will acquire the correct shape), or at the bottom of the container.
If the crystal grows at the bottom, it must be rotated periodically to achieve symmetry.
In place of the evaporated water, a solution of the same consistency should be added as it was at the beginning of the experiment.

The basic principle in this case remains the same: the slower the processes that affect crystallization go, the more beautiful, larger and more correct the crystals will turn out. If the original crystal, which served as the basis for growth, had an irregular shape, it will fill in the missing parts during growth and take on a configuration typical of the nature of its substance. So copper sulfate will eventually grow into a rhombus, and salts of potassium chromium alum form an octahedron.

It is believed that at home only a small crystal can grow from improvised means. This is not so: with due attention, there is every chance to grow a crystal of any size and weight at home. In fact, for this it is enough to continue the crystallization procedure until the desired result is achieved. Of course, you must immediately choose a container that is suitable in size.

Preservation of crystals

Failure to comply with storage conditions may lead to the destruction of the crystal. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the selected substance in advance in order to avoid disappointment at the end of such a long and painstaking work.

Thus, the chiseled edges of an alum crystal, under the action of ordinary dry air, will fade due to loss of moisture and crumble, forming a gray powder. The same will happen with sodium sulfate and thiosulfate, salts of manganese, zinc, nickel, Rochelle salt. The only way out is to place the crystals in sealed transparent vessels. Some recommend to cover the crystals clear varnish, but this only delays the time of death. And yet - varnished edges lose their original luster and look artificial.

High temperatures destroy crystals grown from copper sulphate and potassium alum. The life of such crystals can be extended by storage in a domestic refrigerator. However, even here they will last about 2 years.

Another problem of crystals of water-soluble substances is that they are destroyed by temperature changes due to moisture, which is stored in a small amount inside them. For this reason, specks, chips appear, the edges are washed off, and the gloss is lost.

Perhaps the most stable of the substances popular for growing crystals is table salt.

What can you grow a crystal from?

In addition to the above substances, crystals at home can be grown from sugar.

It is much more difficult, but at the same time more interesting to grow artificial stones (amethysts, quartzites, rubies, etc.). This is a rather laborious process that requires special equipment to maintain a constant temperature, pressure, humidity and other indicators important for the success of the experiment. In other words, to get an artificial stone, you need a real laboratory.

What should be the substance for home growing a crystal?

Safe, non-toxic. Not all substances with a crystalline structure correspond to this requirement. For example, potassium cyanide KCN (or sodium sulfide Na2S) also forms crystals of its characteristic shape. But it is impossible to conduct experiments with him at home, because he enters into an oxidation reaction with oxygen in the composition of the air and releases toxic substances that are dangerous to humans.
The second important quality is stability. That is, the selected substance must enter into a reversible reaction with water. In addition, resistance to temperature fluctuations is important. Some organic substances can be irreversibly destroyed when exposed to hot water (hydrolysis reaction).
The cost of reagents. As you know, the first experience (or several) may not be very successful, therefore, for starters, it is better to opt for inexpensive and affordable substances.
Yes, growing crystals will require a lot of purified water - this should also be taken care of in advance.
The ability to dissolve in water. Before starting the experiment, you should find out what consumption of the selected substance for a given volume of water will be required. To grow a sugar crystal, for example, you need to dissolve at least 2 kg of sugar in 1 liter of water. So it is better to pre-graph the solubility of the starting material. To do this, subtract the mass of the same volume of the filtered solution from the mass of a glass of water after the dissolution is over and the temperature stabilizes. This will help to get an idea of how much substance for crystallization is needed for a given volume of water.

How to grow a salt crystal

The easiest way to practice on ordinary table salt. Then you will not need special chemical reagents, only salt and purified water.

Step 1. Prepare a salt crystal by tying it with a thin thread fixed in the middle of a small stick (pencil, pen).

salt crystal

Purpose: to place the crystal so that it is immersed in the solution, but not in contact with the surface of the vessel.

We tie a salt crystal to a thread and place it in a glass

Step 2. Pour warm water into a container (transparent so that you can observe the growth of the crystal) and add salt. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved. Then add salt and repeat. It is necessary to salt the water until the salt stops dissolving. This is noticeable by the appearance of sediment at the bottom of the vessel.

Step 3. The solution must be gradually heated by placing it in a container of a larger diameter with hot water. As a result, the precipitate will dissolve. If there is something left at the bottom, it is better to pour the solution into a clean bowl.

Step 4. Place the container with the resulting solution in a place with a stable temperature. Immerse the seed crystal on a thread into the solution. From above, the vessel with the solution must be covered with paper.

Embryo crystal on a thread is immersed in a solution

Step 5. The crystallization process has begun. Further, when the water evaporates, it will be necessary to add a solution of the same salt content to the container as it was at the beginning of the experiment. After a while, it will become noticeable that the original crystal has increased in size. You can grow it as much as you like, as long as the size of the container and patience are enough. The resulting crystal will be quite durable.

How to grow a sugar crystal

Sugar crystals can be used as table decoration or candy for kids. But they are quite expensive due to the high consumption of sugar. For 2 cups of water, you will need a total of 5 cups of granulated sugar.

sugar crystals

The process of preparing the solution is similar to how it is done for salt crystals. It is most convenient to grow sugar crystals on toothpicks or wooden skewers. For "seed" it is enough to dip the skewer in syrup and dip in sugar so that it evenly adheres to the surface. You need to wait for the sugar to stick well and dry.

To form colored crystals, it is worth adding food coloring to the syrup ( best option- juices).

It will take 1 week to grow a sugar crystal from the specified amount of ingredients.

Sugar crystals on sticks (Video)

This video shows how to grow edible sugar crystals that are not only beautiful to look at, but also very tasty.

How to grow a copper sulfate crystal

Salt crystals are transparent white, and copper sulfate gives a rich blue tint.

Copper sulfate crystal

It is no more difficult to grow such a crystal than a hydrochloric one: you will need a saturated solution and a seed crystal on a thread.

Copper sulphate crystal suspended on a string

We lower the seed into a saturated solution of copper sulphate on a thread

The solution in a transparent container must be placed in a shaded place with a stable temperature, the crystal should be suspended in the same way as in the case of salt, and wait, periodically adding the solution instead of the evaporated one.

42 day experiment

Do not remove the crystal from the working solution until the procedure for its formation is completed!

Safety

Food utensils cannot be used to grow crystals (an exception is experiments with salt and sugar). Food should not be left nearby: firstly, because the reagents are toxic, and secondly, because of litter and crumbs, which, if they get into the solution, will ruin the experiment.

When handling chemical reagents, absolutely all the rules indicated on the packaging should be observed. After completing work, wash your hands.

Growing a crystal at home is quite simple, interesting and informative. First, it is better to practice on the available substances. If something goes wrong, you need to check that all the conditions necessary for the formation of a crystal are met. Having mastered the simplest crystals, you can start working with other reagents. It never gets boring, because different substances give crystals of different shapes and colors. In addition, no two crystals are exactly the same, and their configuration and size can be adjusted at will.

Growing crystals at home is a very long, laborious and painstaking process, but it is very exciting and definitely worth the time spent. This experience is very popular with children, and most of the methods below are completely safe. So, consider the main ways to grow crystals at home.

How to grow a crystal from sugar at home

It is best to start your experiments on growing crystals at home with the most interesting and enjoyable ones. The easiest way to grow a crystal is from sugar, and if you do this experiment with children, they will be able to taste the fruits of their creativity at the end of the process.

In order to grow a crystal from sugar, we will need:

2 glasses of water;
5 glasses of granulated sugar;
wooden skewers;
paper;
small saucepan;
several clear glasses.

The process of making a crystal begins with the manufacture of sugar syrup. To do this, take 1/4 cup of water and two tablespoons of sugar. Mix, bring on fire until syrup is obtained. Dip a wooden skewer into the syrup and sprinkle with a little sugar. The more evenly the skewer is sprinkled, the more ideal and beautiful the crystal will come out. In a similar way, we make the required number of blanks and leave them to dry completely, for example, overnight.

Some time has passed, our skewers have dried out and now we can move on to the next part of the experience. Pour 2 cups of water into a saucepan and pour 2.5 cups of sugar. On low heat, stirring constantly, turn our mixture into a sugar syrup. Stirring must be carried out carefully, until the sugar is completely dissolved! Add the remaining 2.5 cups of sugar and also, until completely dissolved, cook the syrup. After that, leave the syrup to cool slightly, this will take approximately 15-20 minutes. This time we continue to prepare blanks from skewers, the basis for our future crystal. We cut paper circles a little larger than the diameter of our glasses and pierce the resulting circles with chopsticks. The main thing is that the paper is firmly fixed on the skewer. The paper will act as the holder and lid for the glass.

Pour the cooled, but still hot syrup into glasses. At this stage, a little food coloring can be added to the syrup, then the crystal will eventually turn out to be colored. We lower our blank (a stick with a circle of paper) into the glass and leave it alone until the crystal ripens. It is important not to touch the walls and bottom! Well, we do the same with all the remaining blanks.

It will take about a week to grow a crystal. This is a very interesting and exciting process that children really like. Every day the crystal grows and takes on its individual shape. Some crystals grow faster, some slower, but the bulk matures in exactly 7 days. The resulting sugar crystal is very good to use with the whole family at a home tea party or just nibble in moments of blues! So, entertaining chemistry is not only interesting, but also tasty;).

How to grow a crystal from salt at home

Growing a crystal from salt at home is a fairly simple process, but it requires patience and care. However, the result of the experiment exceeds all expectations. We will need:

pure water;
pot;
2 glass jars;
salt;
strong thread.

We heat water in a saucepan, we heat it very much, and do not bring it to a boil, the experiment will not work in boiling water. After heating the water, we gradually begin to pour salt into it, stirring constantly until the portion of salt is completely dissolved. Then add more salt, stir until dissolved. And so on until the salt ceases to dissolve. Pour the resulting saturated saline solution into a jar and let it stand well for a day. The next day we will see a lot of small crystals of settled salt in the jar. We choose the most beautiful and largest of them, carefully take it out and tie it on a thread. Carefully pour the solution into an empty jar, making sure that the settled crystals do not fall into a new vessel. Then we lower the crystal on a thread into a filtered saline solution and stock up on patience. After 2-3 days you will notice an increase in the crystal, this growth will continue for some time until the end of growth. After you notice that the crystal has stopped growing, you can either end the experiment if you are satisfied with the result, or prepare another saturated saline solution, just as we did above, and lower our crystal there. By the way, if you often change the salt solution, then the growth of the crystal will be faster.

It is very important not to specially cool the solution and not to shake it, in this case crystals of an imperfect shape are obtained. Also, do not add any dyes, the crystal will not be colored, and the experiment will be ruined.

How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home

Growing crystals from copper sulphate at home is already the next level of complexity, which requires compliance with safety requirements and can only be performed by children under adult supervision.

For the experiment we need:

water, preferably distilled;
glass jar;
copper salt (copper sulfate or copper sulfate, which can be bought at a gardening store).

Before buying, be sure to consider the substance, it should be a bright blue homogeneous powder. In the presence of lumps and green blotches, it is better to refuse the purchase. It will go to summer residents on the farm, but we, novice chemists, will not.

So, the correct vitriol is purchased. Pour about 100 grams of powder into a glass jar and pour a little hot water, stirring constantly. We must get a saturated solution in which the copper salt can no longer dissolve. Filter the solution and put it in the refrigerator. The next day at the bottom we will find many crystals. We select a couple of the largest and most beautiful and place them in a container with a filtered solution. Before that, we act with crystals in the same way as in the previous experiment with table salt, namely, we fix it on a thread and lower it into a jar. We cover the vessel with thin paper and stock up on patience. Growing a crystal from copper sulfate takes several weeks. After the formation of the crystal is completed, it must be carefully removed, rinsed with cold running water and coated with colorless nail polish.

natural rock crystals

How to grow a crystal from salt
How to grow a crystal from sugar
How to grow a copper sulfate crystal
How to grow a crystal from potassium alum

Mineral crystals are found everywhere in nature. For their education, special conditions are needed. For example, rock granite comprises crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica, which crystallized one after another as the magma cooled.

Beautiful hexagonal rock crystals grew from hot water solutions saturated with SiO2 silica.

natural sulfur crystals

Rhombic yellow crystals sulfur rose from the hydrogen sulfide waters of hot springs and geysers.

On the shores of salt lakes and seas one can see cubic crystals of rock salt - halite; white, red, yellow and even blue crystals of carnallite and mirabilite.

Diamonds, the hardest crystals, were formed under enormous pressure in the so-called explosion pipes (kimberlite pipes).

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SALT

grown salt crystals

For the growth of the right crystals, rest is needed. You can not shake or move the table or shelf on which there is a container with growing crystals.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM SUGAR

sugar crystals

The following is a complete guide, how to grow sugar crystals on sticks.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM COPPER sulphate

Copper sulfate is sold in shops for gardeners, from it, and from slaked lime, they prepare "Bordeaux liquid" to protect plants from fungi and various diseases.

In order to grow a crystal of copper sulphate (Cu SO4 * 5H2O) of the correct shape, powdered copper sulphate should be dissolved in water at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures, the solubility of copper sulfate decreases. Dissolve the powder until the dissolution stops. At the end of a wire or woolen thread we tie a seed - a small crystal of the same copper sulphate. Where to get it? You can search in the same package from which you poured the vitriol into the water, a larger crystal. If this is not found, leave your solution to cool, and after a while you will see small crystals at the bottom.

Easy to grow beautiful copper crystals. A detailed description of the process can be found in the detailed article "How to grow copper crystals".

Ferrous sulfate crystals are grown in a similar way, a detailed article on this can be read by clicking on the link in this proposal.

HOW TO GROW A CRYSTAL FROM POTASSIUM ALUMS

grown crystals of potassium alum

Potassium alum (KAI 2*12H2O - mineral alunite) are sold in a pharmacy in powder form. This is a good remedy that "dries out the skin" and kills pathogens, this substance does not cause allergies and it is not toxic. Good crystals can be grown from potassium alum powder. Alum should be dissolved in warm water until saturated and the solution filtered. After a few days of being in a quiet place, at room temperature, small crystals will appear at the bottom of the container.

potassium alum (burnt alum) can be bought at a pharmacy

From these crystals, you need to select a few pieces of the correct shape and place them in another container. Then they are filled with the same solution. You can hang the seeds on thin threads (they can be glued to the thread with strong waterproof glue). Once every two or three days, the crystals should be transferred to a new glass, and the solution should be filtered and again filled with growing crystals. Alum crystals, grown to the right size, should be varnished so that they do not melt from the moisture in the air and lose their shape.

Solutions for growing crystals should preferably be prepared with distilled water.

At home, you can get artificial malachite using blue vitriol and washing soda, but these will not be beautiful crystals or an openwork patterned stone, but a green or dirty green precipitate at the bottom of the vessel (powder). Beautiful malachite, which practically does not differ from natural, can only be obtained using industrial equipment.

The enterprises also grow crystals of many minerals. But it is impossible to repeat this at home, for this you need special equipment. Most crystals (quartz, amethyst, ruby, emerald, diamonds, malachite, garnets, etc.) are grown in cast iron autoclaves under high pressure. Temperatures reach 500-1000 degrees, and pressure - 3000 atmospheres.

Crystal Grow Kits

crystal growing kit

Strangely, the instructions that are in the box shown in the photo do not indicate which chemical is used to grow the crystals and which dye is used. Other than that, it's pretty detailed.

Many interesting processes take place in nature. One of them is the creation of rock crystals. But this wonderful process, shrouded in mystery, can be reproduced at home, observing how beautiful minerals gradually grow from substances familiar to us.

The safest ingredient is sugar. It’s worth starting with it, especially since such crystals are not only beautiful, but also edible. You need to take:

2 glasses of water;
3 cups more sugar
sticks;
paper or clothespins;
capacity;
glasses;
food coloring.

Syrup is boiled from 1/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Then sticks are dipped into it and rolled in a small amount of sugar poured on a napkin. When they are completely dry, take a container, pour 2 cups of water into it and pour half the amount of sugar. We reduce the fire to a minimum, place the container on the stove, and stirring, wait for the dissolution of all the sugar. Add the rest of the sand and dissolve it. Turn off the burner and let the solution stand for about 20 minutes. Pour hot syrup into glasses and add food coloring to each. We put holders on the sticks. When we dip these sticks into the hot syrup, the limiter will prevent contact with the walls and bottom of the dish. In about 7 days, a miracle will happen.

Another available ingredient is NaCl - edible salt. Getting Started:

Pour warm water into a glass - 200 ml.
Add salt in portions, stirring all the time. We do this until the salt crystals cease to dissolve. It will take approximately 70 g. It is important that the salt is clean, otherwise the experiment may end in a negative result.
We take a container with water, put on fire. We place a glass there, and let it stay there until the solution in it is heated. Do not forget to put a rag or some kind of stand on the bottom of the container, otherwise the glass will crack.
We prepare a simple device, consisting of a pencil with a thread tied to it, at the end of which the largest crystal of salt is fixed. If, instead of a crystal, you tie a pebble or a figurine made of copper wire, then in the end we get a very beautiful sample.
We take out the glass, pass the solution through filter paper. We lay the device on the edges of the glass. A thread with a crystal will sink into a saturated solution. Set aside a dark place for dishes.
We observe how the crystal grows. When you decide that it has grown enough, take it out and dry it, varnish it. Handle it with care - it is very fragile.

Very beautiful blue crystals grow from blue vitriol. This material is not as safe as sugar or salt, so wear gloves. The technology is almost the same:

We take a glass jar and pour water - 300 ml.
We gradually introduce copper sulfate until the solution is supersaturated.
We put a pot of water on the stove, put a jar in it and heat it.
We hang a bead or a button on a thread. Tie to a wooden stick.
We take out the jar, let the solution cool.
We place a stick with a thread across the hole in the jar. We make sure that the load does not touch the bottom and walls of the vessel.
We wait until the crystal grows, then we take it out.
We apply the coating using colorless nail polish.

Good crystals grow from potassium alum (alunite). Buy them at the pharmacy. Then:

dissolved in hot water;
filter;
put in a quiet place, temperature - room temperature;
crystals appear after a few days at the bottom of the dish;
choose the best ones, transfer them to another dish and fill them with an old filtered solution;
repeat this operation in 2-3 days until minerals of the desired size are obtained;
taken out, blotted with a napkin and varnished.

In stores that sell toys, sometimes there are kits with materials for growing crystals. They contain aluminum and potassium sulfates, as well as ammonium phosphate and dyes.

To sum it up: growing crystals is a creative, exciting process. If you do this with a child, then who knows, maybe a famous explorer will grow out of him?

All-Russian Internet Olympiad for schoolchildren, students, graduate students and young scientists in the field of nanosystems, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies "Nanotechnologies - a breakthrough into the Future!"

GBOU Lyceum No. 000, Moscow

creative work

About crystals

The work was done by students of Lyceum 1575, Moscow:

Work manager:

Physics teacher, head of the natural sciences department of the Lyceum 1575,

Tutor: Olga Usovich, Moscow State University

annotation

About crystals

Objective: study what a natural crystal is, its properties, grow crystals from ammonium monophosphate.

Relevance: Crystals have long attracted the attention of people with their beauty, regular shape, and mystery. These bodies surround us all our lives, because they are ice, and snow, and snowflakes, and many precious and semiprecious stones, as well as solid bodies in which atoms are arranged regularly, forming a crystal lattice. Even such a well-known scientist as Lomonosov showed interest in crystals: “... Curiosity alone is quite encouraging to know the inside of the Russian underground nature and to show it to the scientific council for the general increment of sciences.”

Tasks: 1. Find information about what is a crystal and a mineral

3. Talk about what sand is

4. Conduct experiments on growing a crystal

Results:

1. We learned that crystals remember the history of growth

2. We grew crystals from ammonium phosphate, as well as crystals on cardboard due to capillary growth

3. Made a mini-collection of sand

1. Introduction. four

2. Crystals and minerals. 5

2.1 Types of crystals. 7

2.2 Ideal crystal. 7

2.3 Real crystal. 7

3. Properties of crystals ............................................... ................................... ……..eight

3.1 Symmetry……………………………………………………………………...8

3.2 Anisotropy………………………………………………………………………8

4. Sand crystals …………...……………………………………………...…….9

5. Theoretical part: "growing crystals". 12

5.1 Why crystals are grown.. 12

6. Independent cultivation of crystals. 13

6.1 Crystals of ammonium phosphate. 13

Bibliography. fifteen

“Almost the entire world is crystalline.

The world is dominated by crystal and its solids,

straight lines"

Academician

1. Introduction.

Since childhood, we remember the fairy tales that our grandparents and parents told us. These stories were different countries, on a different topic, with different characters, but they all had one thing in common, they all had magic. Sometimes it was transmitted through the supernatural abilities of the characters, and sometimes through magical items. Crystals often became these objects: a crystal of wisdom, a crystal of eternity ... More than one fairy tale can be found in the name of which a crystal is mentioned: “malachite box”, “mistress of the copper mountain”, “memories of a stone”. And even in real life crystals do not have magical properties, interest in them has remained since childhood.

In our project, we talk about crystals, their properties, touch on the topic of sand, because each grain of sand is a separate quartz crystal. Also in the practical part of the work, we grew crystals from ammonium monophosphate.

1.
2.Crystals and minerals.

According to their physical properties and molecular structure, solids are divided into three classes: crystalline, amorphous, and composites.

Crystals are solids in which atoms are arranged periodically, forming a three-dimensionally periodic spatial arrangement - a crystal lattice.

The crystal structure, being individual for each substance, refers to the main physical and chemical properties.

Crystallization - the formation of crystals from vapors, solutions, melts, substances in a solid state (amorphous or other crystalline), in the process of electrolysis and in chemical reactions. Leads to the formation of minerals.

Crystals vary in size. Many of them can only be seen with a microscope. But there are giant crystals weighing several tons.

The type of crystalline ice cell was first identified by Linus Poiling in 1935.

In such a unit cell, each oxygen atom is adjacent to four hydrogen atoms, and the angle between bonds is 109.5 °, and for water the angle is 105 °. Such a difference in angles leads to a distortion of the shape of the molecule, which leads to the fact that hydrogen atoms cannot be located in the middle between oxygen atoms. The unit cell of ice has a hexagonal structure corresponding to the six-sided symmetry of snowflakes.

The hexagonal structure of ice remains stable at room temperature up to the melting point. At other temperatures and pressures, different structures of snowflakes and ice floes can form.

Different crystals are not necessarily formed by different elements. Example, diamond and graphite. The difference in their properties is due solely to the difference in their crystal structure.

A mineral is a natural body with a certain chemical composition and crystalline structure, which is formed as a result of natural physical and chemical processes and has certain physical, mechanical and chemical properties.

The concept of "mineral" means a solid natural inorganic crystalline substance.

According to the well-known mineralogist, professor of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, "a mineral is a crystal." It is clear that the properties of minerals and rocks are closely related to the general properties of the crystalline state.

The Russian scientist S. established that only 230 different space groups covering all kinds of crystal structures.

Simple crystal lattices include

Simple cubic (particles are located at the vertices of the cube);

Face-centered cubic (particles are located both at the vertices of the cube and at the center of each face);

Body-centered cubic (particles are located both at the vertices of the cube and in the center of each cubic cell);

Hexagonal.

The most important characteristics of minerals are crystal chemical structure and composition. All other properties of minerals follow from them or are interconnected with them.

2.1 Types of crystals.

Depending on the structure, crystals are divided into ionic, covalent, molecular and metallic.

Ionic crystals are built from alternating cations (a positively charged ion) and anions (a negatively charged ion) that are held in a certain order by electrostatic attraction and repulsion forces. Ionic crystals form most salts of inorganic and organic acids, oxides, hydroxides, salts. In covalent crystals (they are also called atomic) at the nodes of the crystal lattice there are atoms, identical or different, which are connected by covalent (formed by the overlap of a pair of valence electron clouds) bonds. These bonds are strong and directed at certain angles. A typical example is a diamond; in his crystal, each carbon atom is bonded to four other atoms located at the vertices of the tetrahedron.

Molecular crystals are built from isolated molecules between which relatively weak attractive forces act. As a result, such crystals have much lower melting and boiling points, and their hardness is low. From inorganic compounds, molecular crystals form many non-metals (noble gases, hydrogen, nitrogen, white phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur, halogens), compounds whose molecules are formed only by covalent bonds. This type of crystals is also characteristic of almost all organic compounds.

Metal crystals form pure metals and their alloys. Such crystals can be seen on the fracture of metals, as well as on the surface of galvanized sheet. The crystal lattice of metals is formed by cations, which are connected by mobile electrons ("electron gas"). This structure determines the electrical conductivity, malleability, high reflectivity (brilliance) of crystals.

It is necessary to separate the ideal and real crystal.

2.2 Ideal crystal.

It is, in fact, a mathematical object that has a complete symmetry inherent in it, ideally smooth smooth edges.

2.3 Real crystal.

It always contains various defects in the internal structure of the lattice, distortions and irregularities on the faces and has a reduced symmetry of the polyhedron due to the specific growth conditions, inhomogeneity of the feeding medium, damage and deformation. A real crystal does not necessarily have crystallographic faces and a regular shape, but it retains its main property - the regular position of atoms in the crystal lattice.

For a visual representation of such structures, crystal lattices are used, in the nodes of which the centers of atoms or molecules (or ions) of a substance are located. The structural element of the lattice of the minimum size is called the elementary cell. The entire crystal lattice can be built by parallel transfer of the elementary cell in some directions.

Crystals, which is important, remember their background, "place of birth."

Crystals are formed:

When a substance is formed as a result of a chemical reaction

When attached to a salt molecule, water molecules

When a solute is precipitated from a solution

When a gaseous or liquid substance changes into a solid

When crystals grow, the atoms are arranged in a certain order. At this time, an external influence occurs (temperature, pressure changes). because of this, dislocations arise, because of them the atoms are arranged in a different order. It turns out that by dislocation one can understand where this crystal came from, how it was formed, what is happening nearby. for example, snowflakes cannot be the same, because there cannot be absolutely identical formation conditions, impurities, but they all have a hexagonal shape, since they have a similar basic composition and the conditions are also limited (temperature below 0, etc.).

Diamond, graphite and nanodiamond are an example of the fact that crystals with different properties do not necessarily consist of different substances. These substances are identical in composition and they differ only in the structure of the crystal lattice. Nanodiamonds have been found in nature in craters formed by meteor impacts. Nanodiamonds are used to create elements of nanoelectronics.

diamond and graphitenanodiamond

nanodiamond

crystal lattice of diamond and graphite

3. Properties of crystals.

Although the real crystals encountered in our lives do not possess magical properties, they have no less interesting properties, such as:

3.1 Symmetry.

The regularity of the atomic structure (a crystal can be combined with itself by means of symmetry transformations). In nature, there are only 230 different space groups, covering all possible crystal structures (this was established by the Russian scientist S.)

3.2 Anisotropy.

Anisotropy - the dissimilarity of the properties of crystals in different directions. Anisotropy is a characteristic property of crystalline bodies. In this case, the property of anisotropy in its simplest form manifests itself only in single crystals. In polycrystals, the anisotropy of the body as a whole may not manifest itself due to the random orientation of microcrystals, or even not manifest itself, except in cases of special crystallization conditions, special processing, etc.

The reason for the anisotropy of crystals is that with an ordered arrangement of atoms, molecules or ions, the forces of interaction between them and the interatomic distances are not the same in different directions. The reason for the anisotropy of a molecular crystal can also be the asymmetry of its molecules. Macroscopically, this dissimilarity manifests itself, as a rule, only if the crystal structure is not too symmetrical.

4. Sand crystals.

natural collection

Sand makes beautiful natural collections.

When precipitation falls in the desert, the water quickly soaks into the sand. If there is a lot of gypsum in the sand, its particles are washed out and go deep into the water. From the intense heat, the water rises again to the surface. When the water completely evaporates, new gypsum crystals form. Since the formation of the mineral occurs in a layer of sand, the sand becomes part of the crystal. And tourists who have visited the Sahara are happy to take these stones - desert roses - into their collections. The diameter of the petals of the "desert rose" is from 2-3 millimeters to several decimeters. The color of the crystals depends entirely on the color of the sand in which they formed. White "desert roses" are found in the Tunisian Sahara, black - in the deserts of Argentina.

Stock Foto Sahara desert. Natural collection. “Desert Rose” - sandstone

Nowadays, collecting sand from different beaches and volcanoes is not uncommon. But few people know that the collection of sand is also a collection of crystals. Each grain of sand is a small quartz crystal!

The sand from the quarry mainly consists of yellow quartz crystals, it contains a minimum amount of impurities. Obsidian or volcanic glass can be found in the Sand from the Gozo volcano. In the sand from Greece, many grains of sand are not quartz crystals, but small minerals of other substances. White sand from the beaches of Tunisia contains virtually no foreign matter. It's all white quartz crystals. Sandstone is a solid stone, consisting of grains of sand "blinded" together. Rock crystal has a lot in common with sand. These are also quartz crystals, but only rock crystal is larger in size.

Photo 1. Ordinary sand from a quarry. Photo 2. Sand from the white beaches of Tunisia

Photo 3. Volcanic sand

from Greece. Photo 4. The birth of obsidian

Photo 5. Sand from the island of Gozo.

The photos were taken under a microscope with a magnification of 10.

5. Theoretical part: "growing crystals".

5.1 Why crystals are grown

Why create artificial crystals, if almost all solids around us have a crystalline structure?

First of all, natural crystals are not always large enough, they are often heterogeneous, they contain unwanted impurities. With artificial cultivation, you can get crystals larger and cleaner than in nature.

There are also crystals that are rare in nature and highly valued, but are very necessary in technology. Therefore, laboratory and factory methods for growing diamond, quartz, and corundum crystals have been developed. Large crystals necessary for technology and science, artificial gems, crystalline materials for precision instruments are grown in laboratories; there they also create those crystals that are studied by crystallographers, physicists, chemists, metallologists, mineralogists, discovering new remarkable phenomena and properties in them. And most importantly, by artificially growing crystals, they create substances that do not exist in nature at all, many new substances. According to Academician Nikolai Vasilievich Belov, a large crystal is an object of manifestation, study and use of the amazing properties of a crystal that continuously revolutionize science and technology.

In laboratories and factories, methods of creating artificial crystals with the properties necessary for technology, so to speak, crystals "to measure", or "to order" are being improved more and more.

Also, when we grow crystals, we seem to create a piece of a fairy tale. As if by magic, crystals grow from powder and water. The interest also lies in the fact that when we learn the scientific explanation of the “fairy tale”, it seems to us that everything that surrounds us is a fairy tale. Only not wizards, but chemists, not magic powder, but ammonium monophosphate, not a magic crystal with its magical properties and beauty, but ordinary, but always beautiful.

6.Self growing crystals

Crystals are formed:

1. At the moment of formation of a substance as a result of a chemical reaction

2. When attached to a salt molecule, water molecules

3. When a solute is precipitated from a solution

4. When a gaseous or liquid substance passes into a solid

6.1 Crystals of ammonium phosphate.

1. Preparation of materials. We will need: ammonium phosphate, a measuring cup, hot water, a stirring stick, a container for crystals (stones are also used for growing the second type).

2. Add 70 ml of hot water to 25 g of ammonium phosphate and stir thoroughly until the ammonium phosphate is dissolved.

3. A) pour the resulting solution into a container and wait about a day.

B) 1. Pour stones into the crystal container.

2. Pour the solution into the container and wait about a week.

3. And we impregnate a piece of green paper with another solution.

You can also grow crystals on cardboard (cardboard is a porous structure). It is necessary to rub the edges of the cardboard with sandpaper and put it in the solution. The diagram shows how this process takes place. Through the capillaries, the solution gets to the edges of the cardboard, evaporation and crystallization occur, crystals grow from the solution.

Scheme of the crystal growth process: capillaries - evaporation-crystallization

Results: (ammonium phosphate crystals): (Photo by the author)

This system of crystals contains crystals of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, a promising material with non-linear electrical properties.

Conclusions:

1. We learned that crystals remember the history of growth

2. We grew crystals from ammonium phosphate, as well as crystals on cardboard due to capillary growth

3. Made a mini-collection of sand

Bibliography.

1. "Amazing Nanostructures", Kenneth Deffeyes and Stephen Deffeys, edited by prof. , Binom 2011

2. "Rocks and minerals" Scientific - pop. edition. Moscow, Mir, 1986

3. " Gems", Smith G, World, 1980

4. "Practical guide to mineralogy", A, geological literature, 1948

5. "Geological Dictionary", M, 1980

Video how to grow radiant crystals

Instructions on how to grow crystals

How to grow a crystal from vitriol at home, step by step instructions

How to grow a crystal from salt quickly

How to grow a crystal from sugar

How to grow a crystal from citric acid

How to grow a colored crystal

How to grow a beautiful crystal

How to grow a crystal in two days

How to grow a crystal on a thread

How to grow a crystal in an hour

How to grow a crystal from potassium permanganate

How to grow a green crystal

Types of crystals

Ways to grow crystals at home

Preservation of crystals

What can you grow a crystal from?

How to grow a salt crystal

How to grow a sugar crystal

Sugar crystals on sticks (Video)

How to grow a copper sulfate crystal

Safety

How to grow a crystal from sugar at home

How to grow a crystal from salt at home

How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home

1. Introduction.

1. 2.Crystals and minerals.

2.1 Types of crystals.

2.2 Ideal crystal.

2.3 Real crystal.

diamond and graphitenanodiamond

3. Properties of crystals.

5. Theoretical part: "growing crystals".

5.1 Why crystals are grown

6.1 Crystals of ammonium phosphate.

Bibliography.

1.
2.Crystals and minerals.