Borax Crystals

[2shoes]

Hi, i am doing a lab with borax crystals but i have no clue on chemistry behind borax crystals. Does anyone know the chemistry behind how borax crystals formation.

My teacher gave me this lab from :
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht ... wflake.htm

can anyone please explain what happens , in a chemistry way

ps. I did do alot of research, but i only found info/chemical properties of Borax.
And it would also help if you gimme a link to the web page where you got your information from ( if you used a website)...thx again!

[blcr11]

I think what you are asking, then, is how do crystals form. The physics of crystal formation is essentially the same, whether you're talking about borax crystals in a classroom, or mineral crystallization in molten rock, or stalagmite/stalagtite formation in caves, or protein crystallization in the laboratory. There are three steps. Step one is to make a "saturated" or "super-saturated" solution of solute. Step two: microscopic crystals form spontaneously by the random association of molecules in a supersaturated solution. These microscopic crystals are called nucleation sites. They act as a focus for macroscopic crystal formation. Step 3: additional molecules of solute attach themselves to the microcrystalline nucleation sites. As the the number of solute molecules attached to the nucleation site increase, the crystal(s) get larger, eventually getting large enough to make those pretty crystals you see in your petri dish or beaker or whatever.

There are a number of textbooks around; most will probably not be all that interesting to you because they will go into the gory details of the phase rule etc. One that you may be able to find at your local library is: "Crystals and Crystal Growing," by Alan Holden and Phyllis Morrison. It contains a bunch of "how to" recipies for growing crystals of a number of commonly found salts.

If you google "crystallization" or "crystal growth" you will get a mixed bag of sites. Some maybe useful links:

Answers given to 4th grade classroom experiment:
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/c ... m03139.htm

Too simple:
http://www.chemistry.co.nz/crystals_forming.htm

I don't know how useful:
http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/debeck_pt/sci ... als_p1.htm

[2shoes]

Wow, thx a lot for your answer, it was GREAT!

[yabba]

k this is not helping me i am in grade six and science fair is in two days and i need info on borax crytals an dhow they form i don't need the chemistry i need to knw how they form thats all

[yabba]

WILL SOME ONE HELP ME PLEASE

[kwhit2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthings ... xworks.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-borax.htm
I'm doing that project myself and it's due friday for me. don't sweat it