pneumatician
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Sodium Chloride Crystals
hi
how I cant obtain Sodium Chloride Crystals like this:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Close_Up_View_Of_Sodi...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/5399425433/
this appeard to be done in space and are very little.
can I obtain this square crystals in the surface a lot more big, around 1 to 3 cm by side???? how?
I don't want halite natural cubes.
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Brain&Force
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Sodium chloride crystals are really, really hard to grow. From my experience I've needed to leave them for months to grow even slightly.
The pyramidal indentations are very common on sodium chloride crystals; cleavage may cause it; but I'm not entirely sure. If you look at very coarse
sea salt under a microscope they are very obvious.
[Edited on 20.10.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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Amos
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I don't know about Brain&Force up there(he is kind of an odd one), but they typically aren't too hard. Just do a google search, crystal growing is
very common as a science tutorial or lab for youngsters.
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Brain&Force
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Kind of an odd one? I'm a really odd one 
The problem I just realized is that the pictures he's linked show crystals grown in microgravity. That's not really something you can do without
taking a solution to space.
Try copper acetate crystals (add copper to vinegar and hydrogen peroxide), which form really nice dark teal diamonds. A petri dish really helps.
[Edited on 20.10.2014 by Brain&Force]
At the end of the day, simulating atoms doesn't beat working with the real things...
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j_sum1
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Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force  | Kind of an odd one? I'm a really odd one
The problem I just realized is that the pictures he's linked show crystals grown in microgravity. That's not really something you can do without
taking a solution to space.
Try copper acetate crystals (add copper to vinegar and hydrogen peroxide), which form really nice dark teal diamonds. A petri dish really helps.
[Edited on 20.10.2014 by Brain&Force] |
That might be a nice little project to do with my 6yo daughter. I think she will enjoy that one.
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Texium
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I crystallized some copper acetate recently. It's really cool looking. When the crystals get larger, they look almost black, like obsidian, but if you
hold them up to the light they're teal around the edges.
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violet sin
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https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/files.php?pid=335326&...
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/files.php?pid=335326&...
KCl crystal, so not NaCl, but close? it took about a year and a half to grow, give or take a couple months. was sitting there so long I kinda forgot
exactly when I started. snapple bottle + KCl solution + time w/ loos fit lid = nice big guy
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pneumatician
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well, after a few replys...
here "my white devil"
OF COURSE NaCl, crystals easy done in ONE crystallization.
not needed climb so high 
[Edited on 20-10-2014 by pneumatician]
[Edited on 20-10-2014 by pneumatician]
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violet sin
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pneumatician- "OF COURSE NaCl, crystals easy done in ONE crystallization."
I don't think any one said it needed multiple crystallizations, my experience was a one shot try. but the first crystals didn't start to grow for
quite some time. after a month or so there were a few chunks like coarse sea salt, and they slowly started to grow larger over the extended time
frame. I simply let them sit until they could grow no larger in the bottle without hitting the side.
right now the crystals from my photos are in a nice jar with plastic wrap tightly over the top, so you can see them clearly on my mantle pretty sure the solution was started from a whole container of no-salt sodium free
stuff from the grocery store. it was fun, but ammonium sulfate was a LOT quicker to make nice size bits. ~ 3 days for 1/2" crystals in 100'F+ weather
in the back yard( covered from dust).
the KCl I didn't want to rush because I wanted them as clear as possible. so no heating or anything that might cause it to drop out too fast for
single large chunks. though I am sure with some effort, you could push to see how much it would take before they got grainy on you.
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