How To Make Borax Crystals

This borax crystals experiment makes for an engaging science project that dives into the fascinating realm of crystallization. Explore the fundamental principles of chemistry, specifically the concept of supersaturation as you grow crystals!

By mixing borax with hot water and allowing it to cool, kids can observe the formation of intricate and beautiful crystal structures. This experiment is an excellent illustration of how temperature changes affect the solubility of substances.

Luckily, you don’t need expensive or unique supplies to learn how to grow crystals with borax. However, if you want to learn how to grow crystals without borax, check out growing salt crystals or growing sugar crystals instead!

You can also learn how to grow borax crystals on eggshells and seashells!

You can also use that borax powder for awesome borax slime too! Check the laundry detergent aisle of your supermarket or big box store to pick up a box of borax powder.

Watch the Video:

Growing Borax Crystals Recipe

Try this salt crystal experiment for a preschool-friendly version of growing crystals!

Supplies:

• 8-10 Pipe Cleaners, assorted colors
• 1 ¾ cup Borax
• 5 Plastic cups
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Fishing Line
• 5 Wooden Skewers
• 4 Cups Boiling Water

Instructions:

STEP 1. Take a pipe cleaner and wind it tightly into a nest shape. To make it bigger, cut another pipe cleaner in half and wind it into the nest. Make at least 5 of these.

STEP 2. Tie a short piece of fishing line to the pipe cleaner nest, and then tie the other end of the line to a skewer. The pipe cleaner nest should hang down about an inch.

STEP 3. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and stir in the borax powder until it is dissolved.

There should be a little bit of Borax on the bottom of the pan or container that does not dissolve. This lets you know you have added enough borax to the water, and it has become a supersaturated solution.

STEP 4. Pour ¾ cup of the mixture into each cup and add food coloring to the cups if desired.

You do not have to add food coloring to the cups since the pipe cleaners are colored, but it can make crystals look a little bolder.

STEP 5. Put one of the pipe cleaner nests into each cup and lay the skewer across the top of the cups so they hang freely.

Try to make sure the pipe cleaners don’t touch the sides or bottom of the cups. If they do touch, the crystals attach the pipe cleaner to the cup. They may break off when you try to pull it free.

STEP 6. Leave your geode-shaped pipe cleaners in the borax solution overnight (or even two nights) until many crystals have grown on them!

STEP 7. Remove your borax crystals from the water and let dry on a layer of paper towels. Once dry, you can cut the fishing line off and you have a gorgeous crystal for your rock hound to observe!

Tips For How To Make Large Borax Crystals

Here are a few notes to get you started growing large borax crystals.

• You will want to set up your cups where they won’t be disturbed. Keeping the kiddos from shaking, moving, or stirring the mixture is important once you have filled the cups.

• The slow cooling of the liquid is an essential part of the process. Generally, we have found that glass works better than plastic. However, the plastic cups worked well this time.

• If your solution cools too quickly, impurities will not have a chance to fall out of the mixture, and crystals may look disorganized and irregular. Generally, crystals are quite uniform in shape.

• Check on the crystals regularly and make note of any changes in size or appearance. If you notice any impurities or cloudiness in the solution, consider filtering the solution and starting again with fresh materials.

How Long Do Borax Crystals Take To Grow?

Let the pipe cleaners sit in the cups overnight for plenty of crystals to grow! You don’t want to agitate the cups by moving or stirring them but check on them with your eyes to observe the process.

You will start to see the recrystallization process begin to happen within a few hours! Though it may take several days or even longer for significant crystal growth to occur. When you see good crystal growth, remove the objects from the cups and dry them on paper towels overnight.

Although the crystals are quite strong, handle your crystal geodes carefully. Also, encourage your kids to get out magnifying glasses and check out the shape of the crystals!

The Science of Growing Crystals

Crystal growing is a neat chemistry project that is a quick setup involving liquids, solids, and soluble solutions. Here, you are making a saturated solution with more powder than the liquid can hold. The hotter the liquid, the more saturated the solution can become.

This is because the molecules in the water move farther apart as the temperature increases, allowing more of the powder to be dissolved. As the solution cools down, there is all of a sudden going to be more particles in the water as the molecules move back together.

Some of these particles will start to fall out of the suspended state they were once in. The particles will start to settle on the pipe cleaners and form crystals. This is called re-crystallization. Once a tiny seed crystal is started, more falling material bonds with it to form bigger crystals.

Crystals are solid with flat sides and symmetrical shape and will always be that way (unless impurities get in the way). They are made up of molecules and have a perfectly arranged and repeating pattern. Some might be bigger or smaller though.

Borax Crystal Experiment Ideas

To turn growing crystals into a scientific experiment, you can investigate various factors that may affect crystal growth. Here are several ideas for potential investigations:

Effect of Temperature

Investigate how temperature affects the rate of crystal growth. Set up multiple containers with borax solutions at different temperatures (e.g., room temperature, warm water bath, cold water bath) and observe and measure the resulting crystals over time.

Impact of Stirring or Agitation

Explore whether stirring or agitating the borax solution affects crystal formation. Compare the size, shape, and clarity of crystals grown in solutions that are stirred continuously, stirred periodically, or left undisturbed.

Influence of Seed Crystals

Examine the role of seed crystals in initiating crystal growth. Set up multiple containers with borax solutions, some with seed crystals and some without, and compare the growth patterns of crystals in each group.

Effect of Borax Concentration

Investigate how varying the concentration of borax in the solution affects crystal formation. Prepare solutions with different concentrations of borax (e.g., 100g/L, 200g/L, 300g/L) and observe the resulting crystals to determine if higher concentrations produce larger or more complex crystals.

Impact of Additives

Explore the effects of adding additives or impurities to the borax solution on crystal growth. Test how adding substances like salt, sugar, or food coloring affects the size, shape, and clarity of the crystals formed.

Effects of Solution Saturation

Explore how the saturation level of the borax solution influences crystal growth. Prepare supersaturated solutions by heating the borax solution and then slowly cooling it to room temperature, and compare the resulting crystals with those grown from unsaturated solutions.

Encourage kids to record their observations, measurements, and conclusions. Learn more about using the scientific method with kids, making observations and choosing variables.

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More Fun Growing Crystals

There are so many fun shapes you can make with the pipe cleaners, as well as growing crystals on other objects. Check out these ideas below!

• Heart Crystals
• Flower Crystals
• Crystal Easter Eggs
• Crystal Shamrocks
• Crystal Rainbows
• Crystal Snowflakes
• Pumpkin Crystals
• Eggshell Crystals
• Crystal Candy Canes
• Crystal Gingerbread Man Ornaments

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