My 8 year old son is wanting to grow crystals for his science project this year and I can't find the simple recipe to make the crystals at home without buying a crystal kit.
I am not sure whether this is a simple way, but this is an experiment we did in school to purify copper(II) sulphate crystals.
1) Add one spatula of copper (II) sulphate to in regards to 40cm3 of hot water in a beaker.
2) Stir mixture until all the copper (II) sulphate dissolves before adding another spatula of copper (II) sulphate.
3) Repeat step 2 until no more copper (II) sulphate may be dissolved.
4) Decant the solution if there is any solid impurities.
5) Heat the copper (II) sulphate solution in an evaporating dish.
6) stop heating when in regards to half the solvent has evaporated from the solution. DO NOT HEAT TO DRYNESS. (If a crust is formed on the surface of the solution, stop heating and add a little water to the solution. Stir to re-dissolve the crystals that form the crust.)
7) Pour half the solution into a clean little boiling tube and cool it in ice cold water and measure the time taken for crystals to appear.
8)Pour the other half of the solution into another boiling tube and allow it to cool tardily in the evaporating dish and measure the time taken for crystals to appear. Leave during one night if necessary.
9) Collect the crystals from steps 7 and 8 and arid them on filter paper.
10) Observe the crystals formed.
I am not sure whether this is the easiest way but I hope I have helped.
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