Which grows faster salt or sugar crystals?
Conclusion. The salt crystals did grow at least 3 days faster than the sugar.
Alum crystals grow quickly.
Sugar and salt grains are actually tiny crystals. Can you tell if the picture to the right is salt or sugar? It's sugar! If you were to make a saturated solution of salt and one of sugar, you would be able to see them grow into much larger crystals, but they would always have the same shape as these tiny crystals do!
When you make rock candy, you can see the shape of sugar crystals on a giant scale. The key is giving them lots of time (about 7 days) to grow. As the water evaporates, sugar crystals form on the string or stick, and the shapes that they form reflect the shape of individual sugar crystals.
Sugar crystals tend to be sparkling and clear. Salt crystals are duller and have a sort of frosted or white color. The taste difference between the two crystals is the most easily discernible trait that sets the two crystals apart. While sugar and salt may look similar, they are quite different.
You can even form crystals just on the plate without any papers. What is this? Now we need to place the plates in sunlight. The entire process of salt crystal formation will take about 3 to 4 days, depending upon the room temperature and availability of sunlight.
Cooling the solution rapidly encourages fast crystal growth, since there is less room for the dissolved salt in the cooler, denser solution. As the solution cools, the magnesium sulfate atoms run into each other and join together in a crystal structure. Crystals grown this way will be small, thin, and numerous.
There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. While sugar is made with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, it is considerably harder to synthesize from its constituent elements than table salt is (Equation 5.1. 1).
Because warmth is key to forming crystals, the jar's surroundings should be warm also for optimum crystal growth. Warm air temperature aids water evaporation, causing the crystals to grow more quickly. Crystals will still grow in cooler temperatures, but it will take much longer for the water to evaporate.
How to Make Sugar Crystals Fast - YouTube
Why didn't my sugar crystals grow?
If crystals don't grow it is almost always due to lack of sugar. If after 24 hours you don't see any crystal growth, pour the syrup back into the pan and add more sugar. 1/4 c. or so and heat once more until it is a hot syrup consistency. Only pour and heat one jar at a time if you used different colors of syrup.
No Crystal Growth
This is usually caused by using a solution that isn't saturated. The cure for this is to dissolve more solute into the liquid. Stirring and applying heat can help to get solute into the solution. Keep adding solute until you start to see some accumulate at the bottom of your container.
DIY GROW CRYSTALS OUT OF SALT OR SUGAR - YouTube
Salt crystals are formed by some chemical elements — sodium and chlorine — which join together in a crystal shape. (You can see a picture of salt crystals here.) Sugar crystals and rock crystals are made up of different chemical elements, too. Crystals can be formed in several different ways.
The key to either method of growing crystals is to make a supersaturated solution of water and salt or sugar. In this experiment, water is called the solvent, and the salt or sugar is called the solute. You can use regular old sugar, and either rock salt or Epsom salt.
Space: Because crystals often need 1-4 days to grow, you will need an area where they can sit undisturbed by children or pets for several days. A warm, dry environment: Not all, but many crystals grow faster when they are in a warm, dry location that encourages evaporation, a critical process in crystal growth.
How to Make Sugar Crystals Fast - YouTube
How to Grow a Large, Single Crystal: Part 2 (Turning Your ... - YouTube
