Formation Of Salt Crystals!

The third meeting of 2010 proved to be an interesting one! Members of the club decided to do a little bit of experimenting and came up with an idea. Making salt crystals in your very own school lab! Seems interesting isn't it? The school lab gave the club the green light to conduct the experiment and conduct the experiment they did.
For this experiment, the apparatus and materials they needed were,

1. A clean wide-mouthed beaker.
2. Boiled water.
3. Non- iodized table salt. (Up to ½ cup)
4. Food colouring of desired choice.
5. A pencil.
6. Sturdy string.
7. One tablespoon and teaspoon each.
8. Stirrer.
9. Bunsen burner.
10. Wire gauze along with a tripod stand.

The procedure for the experiment is as follows,

1. Fill about half of a beaker with boiled water.
2. Add some food colouring to get the desired colour.
3. Add several tablespoons of salt into the beaker and stir using a stirrer until the salt dissolves. Then, continue adding salt, about a teaspoon at a time, until the salts start collecting rather than dissolving.
4. Tie a string around the center of a pencil. Balance the pencil on the top of the beaker with the string hanging inside the beaker. Adjust the string so that it ends just above the water.
5. Place the beaker in a spot in the lab where it will not be disturbed.
6. Check the beaker daily for about a week or so. Record the progress of the crystal formation and observe the change in height of the water level.

*Note: Do not eat the salt.

Members experiencing the wonders of salt crystal formation.