Lab Activity: Lets Grow a Mineral Crystal

Learning Goal: In this lab we are going to learn how mineral crystals can form from
an evaporating solution.

Tomorrow you will make observations, using a microscope, to try to identify the crystal structure of
your mineral crystals.

Materials

One glass beaker Masking tape Stirring rod
Water Plastic spoon Beaker tongs
One Petri dish bottom Hotplate Salt/Epsom Salt/Borax
Hot pad Food coloring
1. Obtain a glass beaker and add [approximately] 40 mL of water. Add two drops of food
coloring:
If using Salt (NaCl) use YELLOW food coloring
If using Epsom Salt (MgSO
4
) use GREEN food coloring
If using Borax (Na
2
B
4
O
7
10H
2
O) use BLUE food coloring
2. Plug in your hotplate.
3. Carefully place the beaker on the hotplate and turn it on high. Notice there are no coils in the
exact center of the hotplate; so, do not set the beaker in the center of the hotplate. Instead,
place it on the side burner so there are 3 coils under the beaker.
4. Bring the water in the beaker to a boil.
5. Once the water is boiling, turn the burner OFF and unplug the hotplate.
6. Carefully remove the beaker from the burner using the beaker tongs and hot pad, and place it
on the counter at your lab station.
7. Add salt, Epsom salt, or borax to the water, one spoonful at a time. Using the plastic stirring
rod, stir until each spoonful is completely dissolved. Eventually, you will find that the salt no
longer dissolves but collects at the bottom of the jar. This indicates that your solution is
saturated. Once the solution is saturated, stop adding salt.
8. Using the masking tape, make a label that has your group name, hour, and type of salt written
on it. Stick your label onto the side of your petri dish.
9. Carefully pour enough water from the beaker into the petri dish to cover the entire bottom of
the dish. If there is visible salt on the bottom of your beaker, prevent it from going into the petri
dish. Also, be careful not to pour too much water into the dish or it will be difficult to move.
10. Carefully slide your petri dish to the back of the counter out of the way of other groups.
11. Pour any additional solution left over in your beaker into the correct jar at the front of the
classroom.
Mineral Crystal Lab Name: _____________________________ Date: _____ Hour: _____

Minerals can form from the evaporation of a mineral-rich solution. If there is a lot of solution, and it
evaporates slowly over a long period of time, mineral crystals will have a long time to grow. On the
other hand, if a solution evaporates quickly, mineral crystals will not have as long of a time to grow.
Tomorrow we will use a microscope to look at your crystals. We will also be monitoring the growth of
crystals in the big beakers over the course of the next few weeks.

Think About It:
If a solution takes a long time to evaporate, then the mineral crystals will be: big / small

If a solution evaporates very quickly, then the mineral crystals will be: big / small

Make a Hypothesis:
Which container, the beaker or the petri dish, will have LARGER crystals at the end of a 2-week
period? Why?

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Mineral Crystal Lab Questions

1. Explain two common ways minerals can form in nature.
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2. What four questions should you ask when trying to determine whether or not something is a
mineral?
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3. What are the two groups into which all minerals can be classified? ______________________
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4. Which evaporated first, the water in the Petri dish or the water in the beaker? _____________
5. Based on what you wrote for #4, fill in the blanks: The evaporation rate of water from the petri
dish was ____________________ (faster / slower) than the evaporation rate of the water in
the beaker.
6. Compare the crystals that formed in each container.
a. In which container did crystals form first? __________________________________
b. Which container had bigger crystals? ___________________________________
7. Explain how the evaporation rate affected the size of the crystals that grew in each container.
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8. Was your original hypothesis correct? Why or why not?
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Apply what you learned to a similar situation.
9. If you found a rock that had really big mineral crystals in it, what might you assume about the
time those mineral crystals took to form? Why? ____________________________________
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10. How would you expect the cooling rate of magma or lava to affect the size of mineral crystals
that form from cooling magma or lava?
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