Crystal growing Lab
The study of crystals and their structure is a field called Crystallography.
A crystal is a solid that consists of the various atoms,
or molecules being
arranged in a uniform repeating pattern based on its unique
shape. This results in the material having a specific shape and colour, and
having other characteristic properties. Crystals may be big or little, but
they all have the same "shape". Table
salt is NaCl and has a cube-shaped structure. Snow
crystals form a six-sided structure.
How are crystals
grown?
In a solution,
a solvent (water)
can only hold a certain amount of solute.
This is called the solubility of
a solution. When the temperature of the solution is increased, hot water can
dissolve more solid substance than cold water. This is because heated water
molecules move farther apart, making room for more solid substance to dissolve.
When no more of the solid substance can be dissolved, the solution is said to
be saturated.
As this solution cools, the water molecules move closer together again and
there's less room for the solution to hold onto as much of the dissolved solid.
Crystals begin to form and build on one another as the water
lets go of the excess solute. This process is called recrystallization and,
depending upon conditions, one may obtain a mass of many small crystals or one
large crystal.
Sourced from http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/debeck_pt/science/crystals/crystals_p1.htm
What can affect the
crystal growth?
There are a number of different things that can affect
crystal growth such as:
Saturation of the solute
Changing the temperature the crystals grow in
Method to grow the crystals
The chemical used to grow the crystal
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