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Crystal Growing Kits....

Okay.. so I'm sure many of you have heard of those so called crystal growing kits... and I am thinking of getting one, the problem is, in the past I have gone through many of them and have not produced a SINGLE CRYSTAL which royally ticks me off but I was young then and suspect that I may have been doing something wrong. So this leads me to my next question... do they really work? If anyone has had one that has actually worked, let me know cuz I will get one if they DO actually work... since I like rocks and stuff. :3
 
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I've only tried them a couple times and it seems to me that all I ever got were granular lumps. Maybe try a Chia Pet instead; they always work.
 
I got awesome realistic crystals when I had the kit as a kid. Half-dollar sized "diamonds" and such.
 
The only crystals I've ever grown were sugar crystals ("rock candy") and some stuff from my childhood chemistry set.

I think the trick is keeping everything as clean and pure as possible: clean thoroughly and rinse with and use distilled water. And make sure the solution temps are hot enough to get super-saturation of the dissolved solids.
 
Okay.. so... clean.. and hot.. got it!

I think I need some more opinions though.
 
I did a science fair project on crystals once. I used alum (available at a pharmacy..people use it for pickling) and tested whether distilled versus tap water, and growing at room temperature versus refrigerator, made any difference in crystal formation quality/quantity. I think the results were all similar, but the room temperature/tap water (surprisingly to me) had slightly larger and better crystals than the others.

like notanumber said, you have to supersaturate the water. I used baby food jars full of water, and sat them in a saucepan which was also filled with water, and boiled them. once the water's boiling, add your solid (alum, salt, sugar, etc) a little at a time. stir it a little...carefully, don't burn yourself. keep adding it until the water won't dissolve any more solid - the point of supersaturation. Take them off the stove. crystal formation occurs when the water evaporates and the impurities - i.e. the solid you added - are left behind. so you should start seeing crystals right away as steam continues to come off the water. let them sit for a few days and as the water evaporates, the crystals will get bigger.
 
Hmm makes me wonder if directions like that come with the kit? I remember boiling stuff but that's it, thanks for the info!

Turns out the site I was gonna order the growing kits is sold out of aquamarine (it's my birthstone!) so I may not order right now. >_>
 
You can pick up the kits at Michaels or prolly walmart.

After I tore down my aquarium I had lots of chemicals left over so last night I felt like a little chemist :) Mixed potassium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, sodium biphosphate, ferrous iron, (naturally the phosphate made the iron precipitate) and a cocktail of trace elements. Boiled, baked, and got great big pointy crystals :) Gonna crush 'em up into power and use as my own fertilizer. I should do an experiment to see if it's better than commerical ferts since it has lots of traces in it.

Uhh.. on second thought don't do what I did :) Potassium nitrate is explosive :0o: Probably wouldn't wanna bake it lol.
 
Yeah, with the ferrous iron in it I thought you were making fireworks :-D
 
  • #10
Oh does that do something? It's not ferrous anymore :) I think it's ferric now (FE^+3) Lol. I didn't let it bake dry, just long enough to reduce the liquid by half.

I'm gonna blow myself up lmao

It smells like pumpkins!

I should add half a bottle of superthrive for an extra kick and let it recrystalize :)
 
  • #11
They put powdered iron compound in fireworks, that's what makes the nice golden sparkle. Iron burns! Get some really fine steel wool from the paint store, tear off a piece and take a match to it :0o:
 
  • #12
O.O

I hate chemistry. >_<

So what kind of crystals grow from these kits? Surely not the ones that are shown on the covers of the boxes? It's not those little fragile ones is it? Cuz those suck.. you touch em and POOF! All gone. D:
 
  • #13
No, When I was a kid I got crystals just like on the box. They are fragile if you are rough with them but they won't break if you touch them (Except for the super-tiny needle ones)

Chemistry is fun :) Once you have a good understanding of chemistry you see the world around you differently. When I discovered if you could make all the atoms and subatomic particles that make up the earth touch, they would fit in a teaspoon, it blew my mind and freaked me out. When I learned everything is mostly empty space, blew my mind even more.
 
  • #14
Well I hate Chemistry because my current chemistry teacher is a total explitive. She's psychotic and makes me soooo frustrated. I think she' might be related to my Algebra teacher. :p

So like.. these crystals... if I throw em at say.. a wall...they'd break? So they're kinda like glass? Not real dense.
 
  • #15
yes.........
 
  • #16
Aww... well what good's a crystal if you can't throw it at a wall? Just kidding. THe reason I asked is because my room is crazy and things get knocked over occasionally.. cats and...people and stuff. :/
 
  • #17
Are you talking about a kit to actually grow aquamarine? Or a kit that grows aquamarine colored crystals? Big difference, you can grow the semi precious and precious gem minerals in a lab but I thought that was pretty involved.
 
  • #18
I means those "space age" kits for kids.

I've always wondered if they could make a gem in a lab that's undiscovered, then then later on "poof" it's discovered naturally.
 
  • #19
Prreeeetty sure it's just the color they're probably just pretty colored sugar crystals or something. xD

I'll lick one and let you know.
 
  • #20
No they taste horrible.
 
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