Introduction:

I chose this experiment because I found it interesting to see how I could turn everyday materials we use into something interesting like crystal formations. Crystals like to form on a substrate, or base surface of some kind; the texture, composition, and surface area of the substrate influences the formation of the crystals. In my Science Research Project I am going to use 3 different household objects and discover which of the three forms the best crystals over a set period of time.

Aim:The aim of this experiment is to find out how fast it takes to grow crystals on certain, everyday objects.

Hypothesis: The crystals will form around the pipe cleaner faster because it has more molecules to form on and hence will form faster than the nylon thread and shiny pushpin.

Equipment/materials: One bottle of alum (aluminium potassium sulphate, a pickling spice) Disposable gloves Very warm or hot water 500-mL beaker or glass measuring cup Three large glasses or jars (that can hold at least 12 ounces) 3 coffee stirrers or craft sticks Pipe cleaner One metal washer One eight-inch piece of nylon monofilament thread or thin fishing LINE

Risk assessment:

Risk: Eyes getting damaged from acidic contentPrecaution: Wear safety goggles or keep a safe distance away when experimentingRisk: Possible burns from hot waterPrecaution: Apply cold water to burnt area Risk: Cuts and pricks from sharp points like the pinPrecaution: Be careful whilst using the pinRisk: Acidic burns from the alumPrecaution: Alum is a skin and eye irritant; always use gloves when you handle it and make sure it does not come in contact with your eyes.

Method:

1. Put on your disposable gloves and fill the beaker or measuring cup with 400 mL of hot water.

2. Sprinkle a little alum in the water and stir it with one of the stirrers until it dissolves completely.

3. If all of the alum dissolves, add a little more and stir again. Keep doing this until it won’t dissolve any more. Now you have a saturated solution.

4. Make a circle out of the pipe cleaner, small enough to fit into one of the glasses without touching the sides, and tie it to a fresh stirrer with one of the pieces of thread. Set the stirrer across the top of the glass so the pipe cleaner dangles inside.

5. Carefully pour the alum solution over the pipe cleaner and set the glass where nobody will disturb it and it won’t get too warm (you don’t want the water to evaporate too fast as this will uncover the pipe cleaner too early).

6. Repeat steps with the other objects.7. Over the course of a week, keep checking your solutions. Record the amount

of time it takes to form crystals with the different household objects. After the crystals stop growing, record your results and hang them up on display Results:

Analysis, discussion and conclusion

Pipe cleaner

Nylon thread

.

Over the time frame of a week a small number of crystals started to form around the top of the pipe cleaner. They started to form on the top part of the pipe cleaner and on the coffee stirrer as i had poured the solution on the coffee stirrer. However on days 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 no change occurred whatsoever and the formation of crystals on the pipe cleaner remained the same.

Over the time frame of a week the crystals seemed to have fully developed on the piece of nylon thread. A small amount of crystal started to form on day 2 on the bottom part of the nylon thread. This amount thickened the next day on day 3 and stayed the exact same for days 4, 5, 6 and 7. The nylon thread ended up having the biggest amount of crystals

Linking to community

Crystals, both natural and artificially produced, have great importance in industry and economy. For example, in addition to their use in jewelry, diamonds and rubies are used extensively in cutting tools and lasers. Growing your own crystals can be a creative way to learn many aspects of basic physics, chemistry and geology. It can also give you a solid grounding in the collection and presentation of scientific data. Crystal growing is also lots of fun!

Conclusion

My hypothesis was wrong, as I had predicted that the pipe cleaner would have the largest amount of crystals in one week but the nylon thread turned out to have the largest amount. The washer produced no crystals and hence this experiment shows how different household objects form different crystals.

Over the time frame of one week no crystals formed on the shiny pushpin. However small amounts formed on the glass because there was dirt on it but nothing formed on the washer. This experiment was a failure as nothing formed.