How to Grow Salt Crystals – Scientific Adventures in the Kitchen

Petya and Lena always enjoyed conducting scientific experiments in the kitchen. Today, they decided to grow real salt crystals. Lena had read in her science book that you can create amazing crystals with just a few simple ingredients—salt, water, and a string.

— Let's try it! — Lena suggested to her brother. — We'll dissolve the salt in hot water, and the string will serve as the base for the crystals to grow on.

Petya was surprised:

— You can make crystals from salt? Will they be as big as in the fairy tales?

Lena smiled and began to explain:

— Yes! If we dissolve the salt in hot water and then let the water cool slowly, the crystals will grow directly on the string.

Petya happily helped Lena. She poured salt into a cup and started adding hot water. They stirred the mixture until all the salt dissolved. But Lena warned that the solution had to be very saturated, or the crystals wouldn't grow.

— Look, Petya, — Lena said, — now we need to carefully hang the string on a pencil so that it doesn't touch the bottom of the cup but hangs in the salty water.

Petya watched his sister closely as she carefully placed the string in the cup. Once the string was in, Lena suggested they wait.

— We’ll leave our experiment for a few days, — Lena said, — and see how the crystals grow.

Every day, Petya and Lena checked to see if the crystals had started to grow. At first, nothing happened, but after a few days, they noticed small white crystals covering the string. Petya was excited.

— They’re growing! Look, now you can see how the crystals are getting bigger and bigger!

Lena was pleased with the results of the experiment.

— This is the magic of science! We can grow even more crystals if we wait a few more days. Do you see how they change each day?

Petya continued to watch the process with growing interest. And each day, he marveled more at how simple and exciting it is to learn about science with easily available materials.

After a week, the crystals on the string had grown large and shiny. It was a real success! Petya and Lena were proud of their little scientific discovery.