BORAX CRYSTALS WITHOUT

BORAX!!?
By: Kellie Olsen
Date: 07/20/2021
EDU 214
Science Fair Projecct
PROBLEM:
 After watching you tube videos on how to create
crystals using Borax? I realized I didn’t have any
Borax. Later, I realized I also didn’t have any food
coloring. I decided to continue to try and make Borax
Crystals with but instead using alternative ingredients I
had around the house.
Question
 Can you make crystals by substituting ingredients for
Borax and food coloring?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

HYPOTHESIS  In my opinion, the crystals wont come out as
colorful or solid because I was very limited in

:
my substitution options for similar ingredients
from around the house.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

MATERIALS AND
SUBSTITUTES
 For this experiment you will need:

 1) A Pan to replace your beaker

 2) Boiling water

 3) 2 cups of Salt to replace the Borax

 4) 3 pink or any color pipe cleaners instead of white

pipe cleaners
 5) a wooden skewer

 6) yarn instead of string or thread

 7) Crystal light drink mix (2 packets orange and red)

to substitute for Food coloring
 8) Pan lid instead of Piece of cardboard
PROCEDURE:
 For this experiment I used the steps listed below:

 1. Take 3 pink pipe cleaners and twist them into a loose coil ball

 2. Tie a piece of yarn to your coil

 3. Bring approximately 4 cups of water to a boil and add 2 cups of salt to create a a cloudy solution. *(If you start to
see salt settling at the bottom of your pan you know you have enough and don’t add anymore.)
 4. Once your solution is super saturated. Add your dye. I used two individual packs of crystal light drink mix a peach
mango and wild strawberry mix.
 5. Next, attach your pipe cleaner to a yarn and then to a wooden skewer .Dunk the whole thing into your solution
while it’s still hot.
 6. Cover the whole pan or beaker with a piece of cardboard or oversized pan lid. Allow it to sit at least 8 hours or
overnight.
 7. In the morning you should have created a beautiful crystal.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

 RESULTS/DATA:

 I followed the same instructions to create

Borax crystals but with substitute
ingredients such as Crystal Light packets
to replace food coloring and Salt to
replace Borax and my results were they
did not form any crystals. The solution
was still liquid after sitting overnight for
12 hours.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

CONCLUSION:
 In conclusion, my hypothesis was right the crystals did not form to the same consistency
because I used substitute ingredients. I enjoyed this experiment because I started and finished
with two different objectives. This allowed me to be creative with my experiment and have to
test out my results to receive my conclusion. It was fun to be a kid again and use my
imagination to try to create something beautiful.
 By using salt instead of Borax, and Crystal light packets instead of food coloring. The crystals
did not form and I was unable to produce anything. After 12 hours of settling the solution was
still liquid in the end.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND