Borax Crystals
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Background Paper
Crystals have impressed people and scientists for many years due to their beautiful colors and the natural process of their creation. There are thousands of different kinds of natural and man-made crystals in our world. I chose to create borax crystals for simplicity and because they don't take very long to make. Even though borax crystals, among many other science experiments, are used in classes to fascinate and impress little children, a deeper understanding of how this happens is learned through chemistry, geology, and physical science. To understand how borax crystals are created, I should know the compound of borax, the ingredients needed, and the chemistry of crystal formation.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral found in hot arid regions with high evaporation rates, like Death Valley in California or Turkey's Anatolia region. The compound has been around for hundreds and even thousands of years, being used for its cleaning properties and role in metallurgy. In today's world, borax is mostly used in detergents, glass manufacturing, insect control, and chemical processes. Thanks to our wonderful chemistry teacher, Mrs Hoggatt, I have an understanding of basic chemistry to further my research.
In chemistry, there is one word that I never liked, but was interesting to learn about: solubility. Solubility is the maximum amount of substance that can dissolve in a specific amount of another substance to form a mixture at any given temperature or pressure. In my scenario, I will be using the temperature of water as my independent variable. Hot water dissolves borax more efficiently than cold water.
As you begin to add the borax to hot or cold water it begins to dissolve. The temperature of the water affects how saturated the solution is. If you add hot water you will have a higher saturated solution, while colder water will have a lower amount of saturation. When you stir borax in hot water, the water’s fast moving molecules are able to separate and surround the borax, which allows the borax to dissolve. As more borax is added, the solution approaches the point of saturation.
The fun part comes at the cooling stage. As the temperature decreases, the solubility of the borax decreases too. This means that the cooler water can no longer hold the extra dissolved borax. The borax begins to try to escape through a process called nucleation (another word in chemistry I don’t like). Nucleation, in simple terms, is small clusters or molecules that form together.
The nucleation will occur on the pipe cleaner that will be put in the water. The additional borax will connect to the pipe cleaner and will be easier for more to connect from there. The borax eventually layers upon layers until you have the visible crystals. There are many ways to alter the outcome of the crystals, including factors like temperature, cooling rate, and the concentration of the solution. This is how the crystals will form. This is called crystallization.
Now that we understand how the crystals are created, let's look at some other fields involving crystals. First, we will look at geology. In geology, crystal formation is very important to understand how minerals grow in natural environments like evaporating lakes or cooling magma. The next field we will look at is biology. Crystallization plays a role in the formation of bone minerals or kidney stones. Simple borax crystals are an entry point to the complicated and unique way crystals are formed and used throughout our world.
In conclusion, even though borax crystals are often made in simple science projects, the science is still important. When this solution begins to form crystals, it represents the same principles that create natural minerals, industrial minerals, and many other materials around us. Because of this, the borax crystals are not only interesting and fun to look at, but they also help us understand larger chemical and physical processes that happen in nature and technology.
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral found in hot arid regions with high evaporation rates, like Death Valley in California or Turkey's Anatolia region. The compound has been around for hundreds and even thousands of years, being used for its cleaning properties and role in metallurgy. In today's world, borax is mostly used in detergents, glass manufacturing, insect control, and chemical processes. Thanks to our wonderful chemistry teacher, Mrs Hoggatt, I have an understanding of basic chemistry to further my research.
In chemistry, there is one word that I never liked, but was interesting to learn about: solubility. Solubility is the maximum amount of substance that can dissolve in a specific amount of another substance to form a mixture at any given temperature or pressure. In my scenario, I will be using the temperature of water as my independent variable. Hot water dissolves borax more efficiently than cold water.
As you begin to add the borax to hot or cold water it begins to dissolve. The temperature of the water affects how saturated the solution is. If you add hot water you will have a higher saturated solution, while colder water will have a lower amount of saturation. When you stir borax in hot water, the water’s fast moving molecules are able to separate and surround the borax, which allows the borax to dissolve. As more borax is added, the solution approaches the point of saturation.
The fun part comes at the cooling stage. As the temperature decreases, the solubility of the borax decreases too. This means that the cooler water can no longer hold the extra dissolved borax. The borax begins to try to escape through a process called nucleation (another word in chemistry I don’t like). Nucleation, in simple terms, is small clusters or molecules that form together.
The nucleation will occur on the pipe cleaner that will be put in the water. The additional borax will connect to the pipe cleaner and will be easier for more to connect from there. The borax eventually layers upon layers until you have the visible crystals. There are many ways to alter the outcome of the crystals, including factors like temperature, cooling rate, and the concentration of the solution. This is how the crystals will form. This is called crystallization.
Now that we understand how the crystals are created, let's look at some other fields involving crystals. First, we will look at geology. In geology, crystal formation is very important to understand how minerals grow in natural environments like evaporating lakes or cooling magma. The next field we will look at is biology. Crystallization plays a role in the formation of bone minerals or kidney stones. Simple borax crystals are an entry point to the complicated and unique way crystals are formed and used throughout our world.
In conclusion, even though borax crystals are often made in simple science projects, the science is still important. When this solution begins to form crystals, it represents the same principles that create natural minerals, industrial minerals, and many other materials around us. Because of this, the borax crystals are not only interesting and fun to look at, but they also help us understand larger chemical and physical processes that happen in nature and technology.
Investigation Paper
Introduction
Materials
Growing the Crystals
- Borax crystals are some of the easiest crystals to grow for a science experiment.
- This experiment focuses mainly on borax crystals and how they are formed.
- In this experiment, I will be changing the amount of borax in each test.
- The goal is to see how changing one thing can affect the crystal growth.
- Borax crystals are solid white crystals that are made from borax and water.
- Borax is a white, sandy powder that dissolves in water.
- When water cools, the borax comes out of the water and forms crystals.
- The crystals grow when the small pieces of borax stick together.
- They usually grow very rigid and sharp.
- They are often grown on pipe cleaners or pieces of string placed in the borax and water.
- How does the amount of borax added affect the size of the crystals?
- If more borax is added to the water, larger crystals will grow.
Materials
- Borax
- Water
- Containers (6)
- Pipe Cleaners (6)
- Measuring Cup
- Pencils (6)
- Control Group
- Borax crystals grow with smaller amounts of borax.
- Borax crystals grow with smaller amounts of borax.
- Experimental Group
- Borax crystals grow with a large amount of borax.
- Borax crystals grow with a large amount of borax.
- The only variable changed is the amount of borax.
- Everything else stays the same.
Growing the Crystals
- Step 1: Pour the same amount of water in each of the six containers.
- Step 2: Add 1 tablespoon of borax to 2 of the containers.
- Step 3: Add 2 tablespoons to the next 2 containers.
- Step 4: Add 3 tablespoons to the last 2 containers.
- Step 5: Stir all of them until the borax is dissolved.
- Step 6: Bend 6 pipe cleaners to form the same shape
- Step 7: Tie the string around the pipe cleaners.
- Step 8: Tie the other end of the string around the pencils.
- Step 9: Place the pipe cleaners in the water, making sure it doesn’t touch the sides or bottom.
- Leave them out to grow for around 24 hours.
- The amount of borax added may or may not affect crystal growth.
- Using less borax is expected to cause less crystal growth.
- The results will be determined in my conclusion paper.
- Growing borax crystals is an easy way to learn how crystals grow.
- After my experiment, it was concluded that the jars with more borax grow larger crystals.
Conclusion
As I have stated in my investigation paper, my hypothesis is that if I add more borax to the solution, more crystals will form. I tested 3 different groups, the first with 1 tbsp. of borax, the second group with 2 tbsp., and the third with 3 tbsp. After finishing my experiment and research, it was concluded that the group with 3 tbsp. of borax grew larger crystals.
To make sure that everything was done in all fairness, I tried to put the exact amount of water in each group and I made all of the pipe cleaners the same shape and same distance from the bottom of the containers. They were also all in the same environment, temperature, and left in the containers at the same amount of time. By doing this, it helped me truly know that my experiment was equal and fair.
The first group, the group with 1 tbsp. of borax, had little to no crystal formation on it. This puzzled me at first and made me doubt that the others would have any crystal formation. The second group, the group with 2 tbsp., had very many small crystals that had formed but were barely visible. You could feel a small, hard layer of them on the pipe cleaners. The third group surprised me because of the difference from the other groups. It had formed very large crystals compared to the other 2 groups. They were well-formed and of a solid structure.
Even though I tried very hard to keep everything equal, there could have been some error in the process. In the 2 groups that barely grew any crystals the water may have been colder than the other or the pipe cleaners could have been slightly different. Even stirring one solution a little longer or shorter could easily affect the outcome of the experiment. That being said, it still doesn't change the outcome of my experiment which I believe was consistent, or my hypothesis which was correct.
I would say next time I do this experiment, I would pay closer attention to the exact amount of water put in each container and the temperature of all the water. I would also make sure every pipe cleaner is the exact same length, ensuring equal growth. I would also make sure that I would do the same amount of stirring for each container or make sure that all the borax is completely dissolved.
In conclusion, the results of my experiment showed that if you add more borax to the solution more crystals will form and create large crystals. Group 3, with 3 tbsp. of borax grew the most crystals and had the most borax, while group 1 with only 1 tbsp. of borax, grew basically nothing. This supports my hypothesis that the more borax that is added to the solution, more crystals will form.
Doing this experiment benefited me by being patient, more aware, and precise with my measurements and readings. This experiment also gave me a closer understanding of how concentration works even in things like this. It also taught me how to record data better and how to control certain variables in an experiment.
To make sure that everything was done in all fairness, I tried to put the exact amount of water in each group and I made all of the pipe cleaners the same shape and same distance from the bottom of the containers. They were also all in the same environment, temperature, and left in the containers at the same amount of time. By doing this, it helped me truly know that my experiment was equal and fair.
The first group, the group with 1 tbsp. of borax, had little to no crystal formation on it. This puzzled me at first and made me doubt that the others would have any crystal formation. The second group, the group with 2 tbsp., had very many small crystals that had formed but were barely visible. You could feel a small, hard layer of them on the pipe cleaners. The third group surprised me because of the difference from the other groups. It had formed very large crystals compared to the other 2 groups. They were well-formed and of a solid structure.
Even though I tried very hard to keep everything equal, there could have been some error in the process. In the 2 groups that barely grew any crystals the water may have been colder than the other or the pipe cleaners could have been slightly different. Even stirring one solution a little longer or shorter could easily affect the outcome of the experiment. That being said, it still doesn't change the outcome of my experiment which I believe was consistent, or my hypothesis which was correct.
I would say next time I do this experiment, I would pay closer attention to the exact amount of water put in each container and the temperature of all the water. I would also make sure every pipe cleaner is the exact same length, ensuring equal growth. I would also make sure that I would do the same amount of stirring for each container or make sure that all the borax is completely dissolved.
In conclusion, the results of my experiment showed that if you add more borax to the solution more crystals will form and create large crystals. Group 3, with 3 tbsp. of borax grew the most crystals and had the most borax, while group 1 with only 1 tbsp. of borax, grew basically nothing. This supports my hypothesis that the more borax that is added to the solution, more crystals will form.
Doing this experiment benefited me by being patient, more aware, and precise with my measurements and readings. This experiment also gave me a closer understanding of how concentration works even in things like this. It also taught me how to record data better and how to control certain variables in an experiment.
