Crystal made of copper sulfate and salt. Copper sulfate growing crystals at home

This article will describe in detail how to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home. This material can be useful both for schoolchildren when preparing assignments in the subject “chemistry”, and for anyone interested in this science.

Why copper sulfate?

This substance belongs to the class of salts, which means its solution can easily be converted into solid through the crystallization process. Growing stone from it, as a rule, occurs much faster than when using materials such as table salt or sugar. In addition, crystals from copper sulfate turn out to be a beautiful blue color. When grown correctly, they acquire the correct multifaceted shape, so observe the result own experience it can be very interesting and pleasant.

Another argument in favor of choosing this particular material may be its availability. You can buy a jar of copper sulfate at any store that specializes in selling supplies for gardeners and summer residents.

What do you need to know before starting the experience?

This chapter will provide some theoretical knowledge that will help you in the future grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home. First of all, you need to understand what processes need to happen for the experiment to be successful.

Schoolchildren know from chemistry lessons that many liquid and gaseous substances can acquire a solid consistency. This usually occurs during the crystallization process. But what if the task is to obtain a solid substance from sugar, salt or copper sulfate, which are already such? Science says it is quite possible to do this. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to start the recrystallization process. That is, the result of the experiment can be considered successful if small stones, having dissolved in the liquid, are immediately transformed into the same solid clumps.

Recrystallization

The main condition under which such a process can be carried out is the presence of a supersaturated solution.

This means that growing crystals at home from copper sulfate requires the preparation of such a mixture. A liquid can be called supersaturated with any substance if there is so much material dissolved in it that some of it cannot completely mix with it and settles at the bottom of the container. Therefore, in order to figure out how to grow a crystal from copper sulfate, you must first learn how to make a supersaturated solution.

Hygienic requirements

First of all, it is worth taking care of the necessary sterility in which the experiment should take place. Ideally, an amateur chemist's hair should be covered with a hat, and it is best to wear rubber gloves on his hands. Copper sulfate, if handled carefully and wisely, does not pose any danger to the human body.

All of the above precautions are needed primarily to protect the solution from dust and small particles of foreign materials getting into it. This is extremely undesirable, since other crystals may begin to grow on similar grains of sand that accidentally fall into the liquid, which will slow down the development of the main stone.

Supersaturated solution recipe

To prepare it, you will need a saucepan, water, a jar of copper sulfate, a container in which the main part of the experiment will be carried out (a vessel with transparent walls is best suited for this purpose, since you will need to observe the growth of the crystal daily). Also, to accomplish this task, you will need a sheet of paper, a match and a thread (it is best if it is not fleecy, but, for example, silk or made from a similar material).

So, let's begin the first stage of making a crystal from copper sulfate at home. The pan with water must be placed on low heat. When the liquid is already hot enough, but has not yet had time to boil, you need to pour a few tablespoons of copper sulfate into it. The water should be stirred until the blue substance is completely dissolved.

Repeat this step multiple times

When this happens, add a couple more tablespoons of copper sulfate. The liquid must be stirred thoroughly again.

Don’t be alarmed if this time not all the crystals of the substance were able to dissolve, and some of them formed a sediment at the bottom of the pan. The appearance of such an excess just means that you have achieved the desired result - namely, you have obtained a supersaturated solution. If this does not happen, then you need to add a few more tablespoons of vitriol to the water and stir again. These steps will have to be repeated until sediment appears at the bottom of the pan.

Making "bait"

This fishing term is sometimes used to describe small crystals of copper sulfate, which serve as the basis for further growing stones from this substance.

To make them you need to take three small particles. When choosing crystals, you need to take into account the criterion of the correctness of their shape. The more perfect the selected pieces are, the more correct and high-quality the clot obtained as a result of your experience will be.

Three particles are placed at the bottom of a transparent vessel and filled with a supersaturated vitriol solution.

After this, the container is covered with a sheet of paper and placed in a place with the most stable temperature conditions. As a rule, experts recommend placing it on a windowsill.

This place in the apartment is considered the most secluded, and therefore nothing can interfere with the experiment. After all the necessary actions have been completed, everything next steps How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home can be postponed for 2 days. During this time, the particles placed in the liquid should grow several times and reach the size of a match head.

Selecting the best candidate

From these ingots it is necessary to select the one that has the most correct shape. This is the so-called “bait”. Next, you need to make a supersaturated solution of copper sulfate again. How to do it is described in previous chapters. It should be strained through cheesecloth and poured back into a transparent container. The crystal chosen as “bait” must be tied to a thread, the other end of which must be secured to a match.

Take a sheet of paper and make a hole in the middle of it of such a size that a manufactured pebble of copper sulfate can freely pass through it. Pass a thread through this hole so that the crystal is on one side of the sheet and the match is on the other. After this, cover the jar with this paper. In this case, the match, naturally, should lie on top, and the crystal should float in the liquid.

Patience and more patience

The problem of how to make a crystal from copper sulfate has already been almost solved. Now you just need to put the vessel again in a secluded place and wait.

It is necessary to ensure that the crystal is, if possible, located in the center of the jar and does not come into contact with the walls. This can be achieved by moving the piece of paper and adjusting the length of the string with a match as the crystal grows.

Various ways

We bring to your attention several more master classes. Crystals from copper sulfate can be grown in a slightly different way.

The second method is to place the jar with the “bait” in an insulated container or wrap the jar in a blanket or other warm thing. This way you can achieve a slower cooling of the supersaturated solution. This option is more complex than the one described earlier, but as a result of its use, pebbles of a very regular shape are obtained. The next way to grow a crystal from copper sulfate is the easiest.

There is no need to make a “bait”. A thread is placed in a container with a supersaturated solution. In this case, it is best to choose the one that is made of the fluffiest material. Its end is tied to a faceted pencil, which is placed on top of the jar on its walls. A crystal will form on the thread itself.

Depending on temperature conditions, the growing experience can last from one week to several months.

How to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home - all about traveling to the site

Modern man has become capable of many things: nanotechnology, artificial insemination, the study of distant galaxies. What then can we say about growing minerals at home? Yes, yes, each of us today can grow a real crystal in our kitchen without laboratory equipment and scientific knowledge. All you need is ingenuity, patience and a few available materials.

Crystals, regardless of whether they are natural or artificial, amaze with their beauty, versatility and unusualness. This is why interest in growing crystals at home is increasing. They are grown most unusual shapes and flowers, 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 you like best. There are even special kits on sale for fans of home experiments, with the help of which it is possible to obtain crystals of simply incredible shapes.

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

Video on 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 begin the unusual process of growing crystals.

Instructions on how to grow crystals

Growing home crystals is a simple and exciting process if you study the rules of the experiment in advance and prepare necessary materials. The only negative is that the crystal takes quite a long time to grow, on average it takes at least a month.

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

To grow a beautiful crystal you need:

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

Although solutions from 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:

The salt or other ingredient is dissolved in hot water to form a concentrated solution.
The seed base for the crystal (this can be a large piece of salt) is washed in water and immersed in the prepared solution.
The container with the solution is tightly closed. After about 24 hours, remove the lid. Around 3-4 weeks a large crystal will already be noticeable.
As soon as the top of the crystal emerges to 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 won’t surprise anyone with a colorless crystal, then a bright blue crystal will definitely be a real surprise. To create such beauty, a special ingredient is used - copper sulfate. It produces a brighter, more natural shade of blue than food coloring.

This substance is sold in garden supply stores. 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 copper sulfate powder in it until the granules stop dissolving 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 it aside.

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

How to grow a crystal from salt quickly

Crystals grow beautifully from salt, but most recipes suggest using plain table salt. It is, of course, suitable, but if you are not very patient or you need the crystal as soon as possible, we advise you to use sea salt. It will not only speed up the rate of formation of the crystal array, but also make it much stronger. But no matter what salt you take, appearance The crystal will remain unchanged - it will be large, white, slightly transparent and, of course, will resemble salt in a bizarre shape.

Let's start growing a salt crystal:

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

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

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

How to grow a crystal from sugar

Sugar crystals are not just a masterpiece of homemade creativity, but also an unusual delicacy. Just imagine becoming an edible crystal creator! Just remember to use the highest quality products.

So let's begin:

Prepare simple sugar, you can take food coloring if you wish, you will also need wooden sticks, water and several napkins.

Take 2 tbsp. water and 5 tbsp. sugar, but we won’t use them right away. Heat ¼ tbsp in a saucepan. water and 2 tbsp. l. sugar - you will get a sweet syrup.
Place a handful of sugar on a clean napkin and roll the sticks dipped 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 thoroughly so that the sugar does not crumble.
While the pieces are drying, take a pan and add 2.5 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. water, cook syrup. When all the sugar has dissolved, pour in 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 immerse the sticks in them. The workpiece should not reach the bottom or come into contact with the walls of the glass.
Thanks to the sheet, the stick will be securely fastened, and the paper will also act as a shield that protects the syrup from penetration of the saw and moisture.

Your crystals will grow in 7-14 days and will be quite edible even for children. 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 of citric acid for every 100 g of water. Let us immediately make a reservation that the process is more complex than in the case of using salt or sugar.

Growing process:

In water (100 ml) at a temperature of 20⁰C, dissolve citric acid (130 g). During operation, the container with the solution will need to be slightly warmed up so that the temperature is stably maintained at 20⁰C. To do this, you can use another container with hot water, into which you can immerse a glass of citric acid. It is advisable to monitor the process using a thermometer.
Then, over the course of a week, you need to add citric acid until it stops dissolving. For this, the remaining 50 g of citric acid will be 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 fishing line and immerse it in the 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.

The 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 growing crystals from food products has already been successfully mastered, you can aim for a home ruby. Of course, it will not be real, but no less attractive and bright. It will help to get such a pebble chemical substance Potassium hexacyanoferrate(III), which is popularly called red blood salt. You can buy the substance without problems in an online store or a store with goods for 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 homemade 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, and using a wooden stick or pencil, fix the fishing line with the crystal on the glass so that it is immersed in the solution.
If you want to grow a garden of crystals, take a smooth stone, preferably granite, and lower it into the bottom of a bowl with a solution.
Every day the crystal will increase in size. After three weeks, the crystal will begin to “peek out” from the water. At this point, it needs to be removed from the container, dried and coated 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

You can quickly grow a beautiful, regular-shaped crystal from aluminum alum. If you don’t know what it is, we’ll clarify: it’s a medicine (double salts) to stop external bleeding and relieve the inflammatory process. It is sold at the pharmacy and costs a couple of rubles.

The process is quite simple:

First, buy the necessary drug at the pharmacy. It looks like this:

Boil 0.5 liters of water, dissolve 6 tbsp in it. l. alum.
Now all that remains is 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.
In a week the crystals will grow noticeably:

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

Dip the base crystal into the solution and wait 1-2 weeks. Its octahedral shape will remain the same, but the size of the crystal will increase significantly.
You will get this exclusive pendant:

How to grow a crystal in two days

It is impossible to grow the right crystal with beautiful edges from scrap materials in 1-2 days. At best, you will end up with many small crystals fused into one bizarre figure. But you can easily solve this dilemma - buy a ready-made kit for growing crystals in two days. You can find it in any craft store. The process is clear and accessible even for children. The video will tell you how to grow a radiant crystal in 48 hours:

How to grow a crystal on a string

To grow crystals on a string you will need baking soda. Before starting the process, make sure that all working surfaces are clean, since even the smallest speck can ruin all your efforts. To work, you will need two glass glasses, a pack of soda, wool thread, and boiling water.

Soda crystals on a string - growing:

Fill the prepared glasses halfway 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 stops dissolving.
Take a thread 35 cm long and secure it with a paperclip at its ends. Place 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 when using salt or sugar. But the crystals turn out to be much more interesting.

How to grow:

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

How to grow green crystal

Knowing the basics of chemistry, it is not difficult to grow a home crystal of an exclusive green color. Of course, the easiest way is to buy a special set in a 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 foam and wrap it with wool thread, like a ball.

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

In another glass, add 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 the 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 ¾ full 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, and 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. Some will become interested in an unusual hobby, collecting their own collection of crystals, some will have fun with their children, and some will improve their knowledge of chemistry. But, in any case, you will have an educational time. Happy experimenting!

At home, you can grow crystals of a wide variety of shapes, sizes and even colors. If you use salt or sugar as the crystallization material, you will have to use dyes to obtain a colored crystal. But growing a crystal from copper sulfate at home allows you to immediately obtain a crystal of a beautiful blue color.

The essence of crystallization of copper sulfate is no different from the crystallization of sugar or salt. Copper sulfate is widely used in agriculture, is used as fertilizer and sold in garden supply stores.

To grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home you will need:

Copper sulfate;
Water. It is better to use distilled water (you can buy it at an auto supply store) or use regular boiled water.
Glass cup or jar;
Thread.
Stick or regular pencil;
Colorless nail polish.
Rubber gloves.

Instructions on how to grow a crystal from copper sulfate at home

Attention! When working with copper sulfate, it is better to wear gloves!

At the initial stage, we prepare a supersaturated solution. Pour about 300 ml of water into a jar or glass. We begin to add copper sulfate. Add a tablespoon and stir. The vitriol will dissolve very quickly. Add another spoon and stir again. We do this until the salt begins to settle at the bottom. The solution turned out to be oversaturated. Place the jar in a pan of water and put the pan on the fire. It is necessary to achieve complete dissolution of vitriol in water.
While the solution cools, prepare the “seed”. The seed can be a large crystal of copper sulfate or a bead or button. We fix the seed on the thread.
The seed on the thread can be placed inside the jar with the solution. In this case, the seed should not touch the walls of the vessel or its bottom. Therefore, we tie a thread to a stick or pencil in the middle. Place a pencil across the neck of the jar.
We leave the structure alone and wait until crystals begin to form. Copper sulfate crystals grow somewhat faster than salt or sugar crystals. When the crystal reaches the desired size, remove it from the solution and cut the thread.
In order to give the crystal an even more attractive look, we will cover it with colorless nail polish.

Things to remember:

The more saturated the solution, the faster the crystallization will occur. After a day or two, you can carefully remove the crystal from the solution, and replace the solution itself with a new, more saturated one.

Keep the crystal away from small children. After all, copper sulfate crystals are so beautiful that children will definitely want to taste them.

You can also grow crystals from sugar, copper sulfate and colored salt with your own hands.

Instructions

You can buy copper at any store for repairs or gardening, because the purpose of copper sulfate is to spray trees and shrubs against pests. In this case, there is no need to use specialized chemical glassware, and all laboratory manipulations can be carried out in a regular cup and saucer.

First, a primary saturated salt solution is prepared. To do this, take half a glass of hot water and dissolve half a teaspoon of copper sulfate. After complete dissolution, repeat dissolving the salt until it stops dissolving. This will result in a saturated solution of copper sulfate.

In order for the crystals to turn out beautiful and clean, it is necessary to filter the resulting solution, as quickly as possible, before crystallization occurs. Pour the resulting filtrate into a saucer and cover with glass (you don’t have to cover it, but if dust gets in or gets into the solution, it will happen and eventually the crystals will lose their purity).

After a day, and possibly earlier, small crystals can already be observed falling out. There are a lot of them, some of them are located in clusters, and some are single specimens. It is the last diamond-shaped crystals that you need to pay attention to. For further work, it is necessary to select crystals of the most regular shape without additional inclusions or impurities.

Next, a solution of copper sulfate is prepared again, which is now mother grade, and according to a similar scheme. Pour the resulting filtrate into a saucer or plate and carefully place the selected crystals in an amount of 2 to 5 pieces. An important condition is their location distant from each other, otherwise during their own growth they can connect with each other and then crystals of the correct shape will not work. Then cover the container with glass and from time to time prepare a new mother solution and carefully add it to the previous one, which contains growing crystals.

After a few weeks, crystals from copper sulfate can be grown in the form of beautiful diamond-shaped formations of a rich blue color. You just need to remember that the resulting product is very fragile and over time loses water, turning into a loose blue powder - into anhydrous salt, that is, in other words, the crystals are destroyed. Therefore, in order to preserve them for a long time, they are coated with colorless varnish.

Similarly, you can get “miracle stones” on a string if you immediately place the initially obtained crystals along the string along the bottom of the plate. The end result will be a handmade necklace made of blue “precious stones”. The grown crystals can serve as a source of pride for one's own achievements in the field of chemistry.

Why copper sulfate?

This substance belongs to the class of salts, which means its solution can easily be turned into a solid through the process of crystallization. Growing stone from it, as a rule, occurs much faster than when using materials such as table salt or sugar. In addition, crystals from copper sulfate turn out to be a beautiful blue color. With proper cultivation, they acquire the correct multifaceted shape, so observing the result of your own experience can be very interesting and pleasant.

What do you need to know before starting the experience?

Recrystallization

The main condition under which such a process can be carried out is the presence of a supersaturated solution.

Hygienic requirements

Supersaturated solution recipe

Repeat this step multiple times

When this happens, add a couple more tablespoons of copper sulfate. The liquid must be stirred thoroughly again.

Making "bait"

This fishing term is sometimes used to describe small crystals of copper sulfate, which serve as the basis for further growing stones from this substance.

Three particles are placed at the bottom of a transparent vessel and filled with a supersaturated vitriol solution.

After this, the container is covered with a sheet of paper and placed in a place with the most stable temperature conditions. As a rule, experts recommend placing it on a windowsill.

This place in the apartment is considered the most secluded, and therefore nothing can interfere with the experiment. After all the necessary actions have been completed, all further steps for growing a crystal from copper sulfate at home can be postponed for 2 days. During this time, the particles placed in the liquid should grow several times and reach the size of a match head.

Selecting the best candidate

Patience and more patience

The problem of how to make a crystal from copper sulfate has already been almost solved. Now you just need to put the vessel again in a secluded place and wait.

Various ways

We bring to your attention several more master classes. Crystals from copper sulfate can be grown in a slightly different way.

Depending on temperature conditions, the growing experience can last from one week to several months.

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