Growing Crystals By: John Kunz The experiment that my group members and I performed was to attempt growing

crystals in a solution by just having a crystal seed and solution while applying heat. The main goal of this experiment was to see at what temperature we could start to see crystals grow with the amount of solution we were given. The solution we were given is Copper Sulfate or CuSO4 x 5H20 and we had to make sure it was at least slightly supersaturated before we could attempt to grow our crystals. At first, I expected very little growth because I didnt think one week was enough time for it to fully grow. After we determine the solution to be supersaturated, we will watch the crystal while it is suspended in the solution for thirty minutes to see if we can there are changes in anything. Then we will wait a full week to see if more crystals will grow. My hypothesis is that I expect to see very little changes in the actual crystal but I expect to see a decent amount at the bottom of the beaker because that is where the solution originally was before it was heated up. Based on the amount of solution we had in the beaker, I expect the crystals to begin growing at 40 degrees Celsius. My hypothesis is based on prior knowledge and what I know about growing crystals from other experiments I did in high school and middle school labs. The first step of any experiment is to get all of your materials ready for the procedure and have all your measurements ready to use. The materials are as follows: hot plate, ring stand, beaker, stir rod, thermometer, clamp, paper clip, thread, a seed crystal, and copper sulfate solution. The first step is to mix the copper

sulfate with 80 ml of water. Our group was given 45 grams of solution. The next step is to heat up the solution on a hot plate till it becomes supersaturated. While it is being heated up, it needs to be continuously stirred and the temperature needs to be watched and controlled. The person in charge of stirring must wear safety goggles in case splattering. After the solution becomes completely supersaturated, record the temperature. The next step is to get the seed crystal tied to paperclip so that it will be in the solution but not touching the bottom. Place the seed in the solution and fill out a chart like the one below: Time (minutes) Begin 5 10 15 Temperature (Celsius) 48.4 44.4 40.4 37.4 Notes 100 ML at start Still blue, supersaturated Dropping 4 degrees Condensation around top of the beaker 20 34.6 Crystal sliding off string getting closer to bottom 25 32.7 Crystals starting to form around the thermometer 30 32.2 Small crystals distributed around beaker

After 30 minutes of observing the crystal, figure out how you want to store the beaker for a week. We tried to think what will be the best environment to grow a

crystal would be. We thought it would be best if we put it in a plastic bag with zipper so it wouldnt get any oxygen. When we pulled the beaker out of the bag a week later we had some very interesting results. One of the most interesting things I noticed was the amount of crystals stuck to the bottom of the beaker. There were so many crystals at the bottom that they ended up attached to the seed that was originally just suspended in the solution. There was also a very small crystal above the seed that was attached to the string. The overall weight of the seed after it grew was 5.7 grams and the weight of the crystals at the bottom of the beaker was 18.75 grams. Some of the physical features of the crystals were the smooth and glassy faces while the edges were jagged and sharp. I also noticed a lot of twining and the color and composition hasnt changed. Front view after growth Side view after growth

The overall goal of this of this lab was to see how many crystals we could grow and trying to find the most effective and efficient way to do it. I would say that my group definitely met our as we had a good amount of crystals on our seed as well as in our beaker. My hypothesis was that I expected to see very little changes in the actual crystal but I expect to see a decent amount at the bottom of the beaker. My hypothesis was very close to what actually happened the only thing I didnt expect was for the actual crystal to grow so much. If I were to do this experiment again I would like to have a longer amount of time for the crystals to grow. I think if we had like two or more weeks to grow them there would be a big difference in the results.