Does temperature change how large a crystal grows? Crystals form when dissolved particles settle into a repeating pattern. The speed and size of that growth may depend on heat.
You prepare crystal solutions and place them in three locations. One goes in a refrigerator. One sits near a fireplace. One rests in a room-temperature cupboard. After several days, you remove the crystals and weigh them.
The crystals near the fireplace grew the largest. The cold crystals grew the most in number. Temperature shaped both the size and quantity of crystals.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the crystals will grow best in warm temperature.
Temperature changes how fast particles in a liquid stack together into solid crystals. In this experiment, crystal solutions sit in three different locations including a refrigerator and near a fireplace. The crystals near the fireplace grew the largest, while the cold crystals grew the most in number.
Temperature changes how fast particles settle into a repeating pattern when crystals form. You prepare crystal solutions and place them in three locations: a refrigerator, near a fireplace, and in a room-temperature cupboard. After several days, the crystals near the fireplace have grown the largest. The cold crystals grew the most in number. Temperature shaped both the size and quantity of the final result.
Method & Materials
You will purchase a crystal growing kit, gather materials, mix solutions, place dishes with crystal solutions in different temperatures, observe and record growth, and dump solutions from dishes.
You will need a crystal growing kit, 6 crystals, a refrigerator, a fireplace, a cupboard, 6 glass dishes, 6 crystal solutions, and 3 rocks.
Tinker Crate — science & engineering build kits for ages 9–12 — real tools, real experiments, delivered monthly. (Affiliate link)
The results of the experiment showed that the crystals grew largest in hot temperature, by the fireplace. This observation stands out because it shows that the crystals grew the most in cold temperature, not warm temperature as hypothesized.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it can help scientists and manufacturers grow larger crystals, which can be used in the computer industry.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include testing different temperatures, such as very cold and very hot, and testing different types of crystals.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
