Experiments

Making a crystal garden

In association with Nuffield Foundation

Create chemical gardens with your students by

growing crystals of coloured silicates in this class
practical

In this experiment, students add crystals of various

metal salts to a mixture of sodium silicate and water in
a beaker. A!er leaving the beaker overnight, students
can observe crystals of coloured silicates formed by
precipitation of the metal ions with silicate ions,
producing their own chemical ‘garden’.

This is not only a good end-of-term experiment to let

students grow crystals, which they find a fascinating
process in itself, but is also a useful means of
illustrating the appropriate chemistry involved when
teaching introductory Earth science. The formation of
molten silicates in the Earth’s mantle involves the
reaction of silicon dioxide with metal oxides at
extremely high temperatures.

This is a very straightforward experiment and can be

carried out easily by groups of two in 30 minutes. The
crystals start to develop overnight, but the experiment
can be le! for several days or for more than a week,
with perhaps a competition being held to judge which
is the finest ‘garden’.

Give this experiment an

artistic context
Invite students to imagine themselves as ancient
Roman science-artists investigating crystals using
a version of this practical, suitable for 11–14 year
olds, created as part of our Chemistry and art
collection.

Download the student handout and teacher notes

below.

Download the student handout

PDF | Editable Word document

Download the teacher notes

PDF | Editable Word document

Equipment
Apparatus
Eye protection (goggles) for handling the sodium
silicate solution

Disposable gloves (preferably nitrile)

Beaker, 500 cm3

Watch glass

Glass stirring rod

Forceps

A piece of card, to cover the beaker

Chemicals
Sodium silicate solution (water glass) (CORROSIVE)
(see note 3 below)

A few crystals of some metal sulfates or nitrates

(see note 8), such as:

Cobalt(II) nitrate (OXIDISING, HARMFUL) (see

note 9)

Iron(III) nitrate (OXIDISING, IRRITANT)

Magnesium nitrate (OXIDISING)

Manganese(II) sulfate (HARMFUL, DANGEROUS

FOR THE ENVIRONMENT)

Hot deionised water

Health, safety and technical

notes
Read our standard health and safety guidance.

Wear eye protection (goggles) and disposable

gloves throughout. Remember to handle the
crystals only with a pair of forceps. Do not use your
fingers.

Sodium silicate (water glass) solution (CORROSIVE)

– see CLEAPSS Hazcard HC095B and
CLEAPSS Recipe Book RB000. Sodium silicate is
supplied in solution as an egg preservative. This
type of solution is ideal for these experiments, as it
is very difficult to dissolve the solid.

Cobalt(II) nitrate, Co(NO3)2.6H2O(s) (OXIDISING,

HARMFUL) – see CLEAPSS Hazcard HC025 AND note
9 below.

Iron(III) nitrate, Fe(NO)3.9H2O(s), (OXIDISING,

IRRITANT) – see CLEAPSS Hazcard HC055C.

Magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO3)2.6H2O(s), (OXIDISING)

– see CLEAPSS Hazcard HC059b.

Manganese(II) sulfate, MnSO4.7H2O(s), (HARMFUL,

DANGEROUS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT) – see
CLEAPSS Hazcard HC060.

The metal salts chosen are known to be reasonably

soluble in water. If a particular metal compound is
unavailable, a nitrate is usually a safe choice as an
alternative, or even the chloride if a Data Book
indicates that the solubility is as high as that of the
nitrate or sulfate.

Nickel and cobalt compounds are CARCINOGENIC

and SENSITISERS (and more). They should not be
used by 11–14 year old pupils. If it is required, the
teacher can set up a demonstration garden with
these.

Powders of the chemicals can be used if crystals are

unavailable. The powder can be carefully dropped
against the side of the beaker just above the water
line. If any floats on the surface it can be nudged
under the water to drop to the bottom of the
beaker. The powders still produce an interesting
array of crystal tendrils.

Procedure

Source: Royal Society of Chemistry

How to set up a chemical or crystal ‘garden’

1. Pour sodium silicate solution (CORROSIVE – wear

goggles) into the beaker to a depth of about 3 cm.

2. Add hot deionised water to this solution, stirring

well with a glass rod, until the final depth is about
12 cm.

3. Continue stirring until the sodium silicate and

water are thoroughly mixed, and no separate layers
are visible.

4. Allow the mixture to stand until the liquid is

completely still.

5. Use a pair of forceps to drop one or two crystals of

each of the metal salts supplied into the mixture.
Try to ensure that the crystals do not fall close to
each other.

6. Cover the beaker with a piece of card and leave

overnight.

Teaching notes
There is a great temptation for students to want to
handle the crystals, especially when these are not
properly held by the forceps and drop before entering
the beaker. Gloves can be avoided if students are
careful to use forceps.

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The very best effects are observed when students use a

relatively small number of crystals and arrange these in
a well-separated manner at the bottom of the beaker.

For more able students it may be appropriate the

explain that:

The metal ions are mostly chosen from the d-block

of the periodic table (these may be better known to
students as the transition metals), since it is these
which are coloured.

The reaction taking place is a precipitation of the

metal ions with silicate ions. A simplified equation
for the reactions taking place:

eg cobalt(II) ions from the metal salt and

silicate ions from the sodium silicate solution
form insoluble cobalt(II) silicate:

Co2+(aq) + SiO32–(aq) → CoSiO3(s)

Obviously whereas the reaction occurring in the

laboratory is taking place in solution, the analogous
process taking place in the Earth’s crust involves ions in
a molten state at extremely high temperatures linking
together.

Downloads

Making a crystal garden - student

handout
Editable handout | Word, Size 76.84 kb

Making a crystal garden - student

handout
Handout | PDF, Size 0.18 mb

Making a crystal garden - teacher

notes
Editable handout | Word, Size 42.75 kb

Making a crystal garden - teacher

notes
Handout | PDF, Size 0.13 mb

DOWNLOAD ALL

Additional information

This is a resource from the Practical Chemistry project,

developed by the Nuffield Foundation and the Royal
Society of Chemistry.

Practical Chemistry activities accompany Practical

Physics and Practical Biology.

© Nuffield Foundation and the Royal Society of

Chemistry

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