Crystal Growing Lab
Grow beautiful salt or sugar crystals through evaporation
Create a supersaturated solution and watch as crystals form over time through evaporation. Choose between salt or sugar crystals and observe how they grow differently!
Salt Crystals
Sugar Crystals
Solution: Unsaturated
Crystals: 0
Current Stage:
Add solute (salt or sugar) to water to create a solution. Keep adding until no more dissolves (saturated solution).
The Science Behind Crystal Growth
Key Concepts:
Crystal growth occurs when a supersaturated solution loses solvent (water) through evaporation:
- Saturation: When no more solute can dissolve at a given temperature
- Supersaturation: When a solution contains more dissolved solute than it should at that temperature (achieved by heating then cooling)
- Nucleation: The initial formation of crystal structures that other molecules can attach to
- Crystal growth: As water evaporates, solute molecules come out of solution and attach to existing crystals
Salt vs. Sugar Crystals:
Salt (NaCl) forms cubic crystals due to its ionic lattice structure, while sugar (sucrose) forms monoclinic crystals that often appear more needle-like or elongated.
