crystals

[fireguy]

how do you make crystals like you used to at school

[kags]

The ones we made at school were copper sulphate. My memory is that we dissolved some copper sulphate in hot water then just left it in a big dish (evaporating dish?) for a week or so and hey presto, crystals. But as to where you get copper sulphate, I have no idea!

[woofgang]

If you do this with a strong sugar solution and clean thread it makes edible sugar crystals. Way back in the dark ages when i was a child, you could sometimes buy sugar this way (I think for posh coffee) still on the string can also do it with salt but not so tasty!!!

[woofgang]

sorry I left a bit out. make a saturated solution of sugar in distilled water. pour into a jar while still warm then tie bits of clean thread or thin string to a pencil or spoon handle wet the string and roll in sugar, allow to dry then balance spoon or pencil over jar so the strings dangle into the solution. cover to exclude dust etc and leave on a sunny windowsill. If you have managed to get a really saturated really pure solution then tapping the jar will destablise the soulution and start off the crystal growth but this is quite rare. Yes I am a saddo living in my childish past and its FUN!!

[jjf2003]

First you make your solution by dissolving your crystalline chemical (sugar, copper sulphate, etc) in water. Next, tie a single grain of the chemical in to a piece of thread. dangle it into the solution, leaving it dangling there. In a few days' time, the single grain will have grown to a fair sized crystal.

[Caladon]

trying it with crushed coal in water does not make diamonds. sorry

[Hamish]

It does if you melt the coal and put a bit of pressure on it!

[Caladon]

lol considering we cant do it that yet, with our current technology, i doubt an everyday pleb can do it in their kitchen ;-) unless they have a particle accelorator

[incitatus]

caladon- artificial diamonds have been made since the 60's. Due to an improvement in the process diamonds can now be grown to almost any size and are much cheaper than the real thing. Crystals do need a supersaturated solution- so get your substrate, and throw it into boiling water, and keep throwing it in until no more dissolves. (dont try this with salt, you wouldnt believe how much salt you can dissolve in water. Bicarbonate of soda , wasshing soda or epsom salts are good ones. Allow to cool, then scratch the sides of the vessel with something hard. xtalisation should occur. rescue the biggest xtal then warm the pan again. once all is dissolved, allow to cool then lower your big xtal in on a thread. repeast the last few steps a lot and you get a biggy

[Caladon]

Really, I was led to believe that the only way diamonds could be formed was using particle acceloraters, and those diamonds were then sold for industry, due to their size they could never be used as decoration. Any "diamonds" that are made any other way are not the high grade pure diamonds we dig from the ground, or the diamonds formed in an accelotarer.

But if that is the case then i stand corrected :-)

[incitatus]

www.goldschmidt-conference.com/2003/Gold2003/abstracts/A174.pdf for example. it was never a particle accelerator though. the original general electric process used a big hydraulic press

[Hamish]

You can also make them by firing a very large heavy steel 'bullet' at a slug of graphite. The pressures and temperatures make thousands of fine dimonds for industry.