Directions: |
Directions:1. Gather your materials.
2. You may wish to grow a seed crystal, a small crystal to weight your string and
provide a surface for larger crystals to grow onto. A seed crystal is not necessary
as long as you are using a rough string or yarn.
3. Tie the string to a pencil or butter knife. If you have made a seed crystal, tie it to
the bottom of the string. Set the pencil or knife across the top of the glass jar and make sure that the string will hang into the jar without touching its sides or bottom.
However, you want the string to hang nearly to the bottom. Adjust the length of the string, if necessary.
4. Boil the water. If you boil your water in the microwave, be very careful removing it to avoid getting splashed!
5. Stir in the sugar, a teaspoonful at a time. Keep adding sugar until it starts to accumulate at the bottom of the container and won't dissolve even with more stirring. This means your sugar solution is saturated. If you don't use a saturated solution, then your crystals won't grow quickly. On the other hand, if you add too much sugar, new crystals will grow on the undissolved sugar and not on your string.
6. If you want colored crystals, stir in a few drops of food coloring.
7. Pour your solution into the clear glass jar. If you have undissolved sugar at the bottom of your container, avoid getting it in the jar.
8. Place the pencil over the jar and allow the string to dangle into the liquid.
9. Set the jar somewhere where it can remain undisturbed. If you like, you can set a coffee filter or paper towel over the jar to prevent dust from falling into the jar. |
This recipe for Rock Candy / Sugar Crystals is from