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Techniques for Growing Crystals @ Jewel Info 4 U
By:Ritika
A consistent repeated pattern of
connected atoms or molecules would
result in formation of a crystal.
There are several techniques used
for growing crystals.
Here we will be looking into the
techniques and guidelines for
growing crystals.
NucleationThe process of
growing crystals is termed as
nucleation. In the process of
nucleation, the molecules and atoms
used for used for forming crystals
are dissolved into their individual
units inside a solvent. Because of
this dissolving process of solute
elements, namely the atoms or
molecules inside the solvent, the
solvent gets associated with each
other and results in forming a bond
with each other. Thus, the
connection of more and more subunits
as above results in production of
larger unit. This process gets
repeated in such a manner that the
size becomes larger that the
resultant crystal falls out of the
solution. That is, the
crystallization process is repeated
and resultant crystal is formed.
Even after this resultant crystal
formation, other solute molecules
which are left unattached get
attached to the surface of the
crystal. This process gets repeated
until a state of equilibrium or
balance is achieved between the
solute molecules in the crystal and
those that remain in the solution.
It is also vital to note that the
surface which is rough would be
always best for growing crystal that
is for the process of nucleation
than surface which is smooth. One
can view this by doing a simple
experiment by trying the process of
nucleation on a rough piece of
string and on a smooth side of a
glass. You are sure to observe that
crystals get formed more easily on
the rough piece of string than on
the smooth side of a glass.
Technique for Growing CrystalThere are three normal steps
involved in the general technique of
growing crystals. The three steps
followed are:
* Process of forming a saturated
solution
* Process of growing seed crystal
* Repeat the process of growth
Process of Forming a Saturated
SolutionThe primary step for growing
crystals is the formation of
saturated solution. The solution
enables the probability of solute
particles to come together and form
a nucleus which would result in
formation of a crystal. Maximum care
must be taken to prepare the
solution as above to achieve the
best resultant crystal. In other
words, it is best to always use a
concentrated solution with as much
solute as you can dissolve, namely a
saturated solution. It is also
possible in some cases, that
nucleation is achieved by
association between solute particles
in the solution without any
assistance which is termed as
unassisted nucleation. However, to
increase the probability of forming
crystals, assisted nucleation always
must be provided. That is, a place
for association for solute particles
to aggregate and formation of
crystal is done which increases the
probability of formation of crystal.
First, one must take a saturated
solution for the technique of
growing crystal. If you prefer to
take dilute solution it would take
more time for the air to evaporate
some liquid and make it saturated.
But if you take directly saturated
solution, the crystal formation
could begin right from that
instance. Add enough water as and
when needed to the crystal solution.
Also, vital care must be taken while
selecting the saturated selection as
wrong choice of saturated solution
would result in dissolution of the
crystals formed. One good guideline
for making the saturated solution is
to add crystal solutes like alum,
sugar, salt and so on to solvents
like water. One can also choose
other solvents based on the solute
taken. For completely dissolving the
solute in the solvent, carry out the
step of stirring the mixture of
solvent and solute added. If you
find that even after stirring there
is some solute left, without
dissolving try to heat the mixture
which would enable the solute to
dissolve completely. For the process
of boiling one can use boiling water
or even try heating the mixture of
solute and solvent directly on the
stove or in a microwave.
Process of Growing Seed CrystalFor growing large amount of
crystals, one can pour the saturated
solution on substrate like rocks or
brick or sponge. This could be then
protected from dust by covering the
above with paper towels or any other
covering material that would protect
the setup from dust as well as allow
the liquid to slowly evaporate.
For growing a single larger crystal,
the technique used is to first get a
seed crystal for the same. To get a
seed crystal, pour some saturated
solution on a plate. This setup is
then allowed to evaporate which
would result in the formation of
crystals at the bottom of plate. The
crystal formed at the bottom is
called seed crystal which could be
got by scarping. Another technique
that could be used for growing seed
crystals is to pour the saturated
solution on a smooth container for
instance, a glass jar. Then place a
rough element like a piece of string
into the saturated solution. This
would enable the crystals to get
formed on the rough element i.e the
string. These crystals are the seed
crystals.
Repeat the Process of GrowthWe have seen above two techniques
for the process of forming seed
crystals. Let us now see how to
proceed with crystal growth using
the seed crystal. Consider the case
of seed crystal of being formed on a
string as explained before. In that
case, first pour the liquid into a
clean container. Then suspend the
string with seed crystal in this
liquid and also cover the container
with some material like paper towel.
Ensure not to seal it with a lid.
Continue this process of growing
crystals and take care to pour the
liquid into a clean container as
soon as you see crystals growing on
the container.
If the seed crystal was formed on
plate as explained before, then
first tie it onto a nylon fishing
line. Ensure you have your material
smooth which would enable it to
attract crystals. This would enable
growth of seed crystals faster and
more easily. Then suspend the
crystal in a clean container with
saturated solution and the process
to be followed is the same for
growing crystal as for growing the
seed crystal present on the string.
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