Thomas Franco, Christopher McFayden, Andrew Schafale, Tim Kunsak

Ms. Miller

Honors Chemistry

April 4, 2018

Crystallization Lab

To grow crystals the water must be supersaturated. The crystals must be dissolved into

the water as much as possible. Warm water helps dissolved the crystals since the molecules can

move freely. To dissolve the crystals, stir the crystals thoroughly into the water. You know the

water is supersaturated once the crystals begin to set at the bottom of the jar, because they cannot

be dissolved into the water anymore. Keeping the area the crystals are being formed in warm is

important to produce the best possible crystals. Warmer water allows for evaporation to occur at

a rapid pace. A lighted area helps the crystals grows faster rather than if they were in the dark.

Ammonium phosphate grows clear crystals quickly and safely to show the process of crystal

growth. Growing these crystals will only take part of a day to complete, using hot water, a

container, and the crystals for the project. Food coloring can also be added to these crystals to

identify the results. Having the chemicals already in a “small crystal form” makes great crystals

as we are just making bigger crystals out of the smaller crystals. The crystals need time to grow

successfully and not be misshapen. Dissolving the particles in water creates space between the

alum that is filled with water thus giving them potential to grow crystals. The solutions of

chemicals and water should be covered and kept around the same temperature for optimal crystal

growing conditions. The crystals are formed when water evaporates off the surface of the

solution, thus not having enough to hold the alum.

Question - Which starter substance is used to grow the crystals the best?
Hypothesis - If you pour crystal starter substance into water, then the Monoammonium

Phosphate would produce the most crystals.

Materials List -

• 3 beakers

• 3 crystal starter substances

• 3 scoopulas

• 3 weigh boats

• 3 popsicle sticks

• 1 scale

• 140 mL of water in each beaker

• Monoammonium Phosphate

• Aluminum Potassium Sulfate

• Copper Sulfate

Procedure

1. Place goggles over eyes

2. Grab three beakers and pour 140 milliliters of water in each beaker

3. Open the three bags and pour 5 grams of each chemical into the beakers that have 140

milliliters

4. Stir until all solid is dissolved (Put on hot plate and heat up if you want to dissolve faster)

5. Grab three popsicle sticks and place them into the beakers with the chemical mixture

6. Wait 2-3 days for crystals to form

7. After there are crystals forming pull the popsicle sticks out and weigh to see how many

crystals have formed on your popsicle sticks

8. Record data and dispose of liquid

9. Clean beakers place them on drying rack

Data -

Monammonium Aluminum Copper Sulfate

Phosphate Potassium Sulfate
5 grams powder 5 grams powder 5 grams powder
.48g .45g .38g

Analysis -

After letting the crystals form, the monoammonium phosphate formed the largest amount

of crystals, forming a mass of .48 grams of crystals. Aluminum potassium sulfate formed a mass

of .45 grams worth of crystals, which was the second most. Forming the smallest amount of

crystals was copper sulfate, which only formed .38 grams of crystals. A source of error we

experienced was there were crystals that formed onto the sides of the beaker. Some crystals also

fell off of the popsicle sticks when we picked them up to weigh them. One way we could fix this

issue in the future would be to measure the weight of the beaker before the crystals grow, and

then after the crystals formed.

Conclusion -
 We took three beakers and filled them with 140 milliliters of water. After pouring 5

grams of Monoammonium phosphate, 5 grams of Aluminum phosphate, and 5 grams of Copper

sulfate into the beakers, we stirred the solution into the liquid until it is soluble. After letting the

crystals sit in the liquid to solidify, we saw through our data that Monoammonium phosphate

produced the most crystals of the three. The results supported our hypothesis, because we

hypothesized that Monoammonium phosphate would produce the most crystals and the most

crystals were found in the Monoammonium phosphate.

Works Cited Page

Helmenstine, Anne Marie. “Easy Simulated Emerald - Grow Ammonium Phosphate Crystals.” ThoughtCo,

www.thoughtco.com/how-to-grow-ammonium-phosphate-crystals-606247.

Schoop, Megan. “The Best Growing Conditions for Crystals.” Sciencing, 30 Jan. 2018,

sciencing.com/growing-conditions-crystals-6621144.html.