Borax Crystal

[1]

An example of what a crystal can look like [2]

Borax Background

From the wikipedia page on Borax [3]

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[4]. 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: [5] [6]

The following is the procedure that I followed:

1. Obtain Borax Detergent, a 250 mL beaker, a stirplate/hotplate, and a stirbar.
2. Begin heating up the water on the hotplate and add the stirbar.
3. Once hot, begin adding the Borax Detergent (It will take some time for it to dissolve, but it eventually will).
4. Keep adding until the Borax will no longer dissolve
5. Use pipe cleaners to create a shape in which you want the crystals to form on
6. tie a string to the pipe cleaner to a wooden skewer or some object that can drape across the diameter of the beaker
7. dip the pipe cleaner into the supersaturated solution several times to release air bubbles
8. suspend the pipe cleaner in the beaker so it is completely submerged but doesn't touch the bottom or sides
9. Cover the finished solution with something(a watchglass or paper) and let it sit overnight.

References

"Borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O ) – Sodium Borate – Occurrence, Discovery and Applications". Amoz.com. 2004-08-16.