How to make crystal from sodium chloride

The crystals of sodium chloride (common salt) chloride are formed through a chemical reaction that occurs when a mixture of salt water and joins the air and evaporates, causing the atoms forming symmetrically in a crystalline solid. Conducting a crystal experiment allows children to observe the phases and changes of matter from liquid to solid. The experiment provides an entertaining and hands-on activity for beginning chemists, and can be used as an aid to teaching about stalactites and stalagmites that form in caves.

Steps to follow:

1. Pour 1 ½ cup of distilled water into a saucepan.

2. Bring the distilled water to a boil over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of Epsom salt and stir the mixture to dissolve the salt. Continue the process of adding, stirring and diluting the salt until the water is saturated with salt and the salt does not dissolve anymore

3. Pour the solution into a glass jar. Measure the length from the solution to the top of the bottle. Cut a piece of chain just over an inch long so that when it hangs from the top of the jug, the chain will get into the mix.

4. Tie the thread to one end of a pencil. Tie the loose end of the chain into a paper clip. Balance the pencil on top of the jar so that the strings and paper clip hang inside the jar.

5. Cover the top, sides, and bottom of the jar with a kitchen towel. Place the bowl on a flat surface and allow it to cool to room temperature. Crystals form on the paper clip and ribbon when the salt and water mixture evaporate. Check the jar in three days, at which point a crystal stalactite should form.