Borax Crystal
Borax Background
From the wikipedia page on Borax[1]
Borax is a water-soluble mineral that can be found naturally in deposits produced by the evaporation of lakes; in fact, it was first discovered in dry lake beds in Tibet[2]. It is a soft, white crystal powder that is commonly found in:
- detergents
- cosmetics
- enamel glazes
- fire retardant
- buffer solutions
Other names for borax are sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. From a chemical standpoint, the [B4O5(OH)4]2− ion is what identifies something as borax.
Borax Crystals
The most general way to grow a crystal includes forming a supersaturated solution by heating up water and adding in the crystal medium. This is an example of creating a supersaturated Borax solution.
General Procedure
For a general procedure, the following links can be used: [3] [4]
The following is the procedure that I followed:
- Obtain Borax Detergent, a 250 mL beaker, a stirplate/hotplate, and a stirbar.
- Begin heating up the water on the hotplate and add the stirbar.
- Once hot, begin adding the Borax Detergent (It will take some time for it to dissolve, but it eventually will).
- Keep adding until the Borax will no longer dissolve
- Use pipe cleaners to create a shape in which you want the crystals to form on
- tie a string to the pipe cleaner to a wooden skewer or some object that can drape across the diameter of the beaker
- dip the pipe cleaner into the supersaturated solution several times to release air bubbles
- suspend the pipe cleaner in the beaker so it is completely submerged but doesn't touch the bottom or sides
- Cover the finished solution with something(a watchglass or paper) and let it sit overnight.