Space Age Crystal Growing Kit

During my last visit to the Museum of Natural History, I saw some interesting things in the exhibits and found some intriguing items at the gift shop. Among those items was the Space Age Crystal Growing Kit. After walking around the museum and seeing the exhibit that had many sparkly gems in it, I was interested in trying to create some of my own. It's true that I probably could have created a sugar crystal (aka. rock candy), but I wanted to try something else. Instead, I tried to grow crystals using this kit that I found at the California Science Center. Unfortunately, the results were not great.

The first crystal I attempted to grow was an "aquamarine" cluster. The instructions seemed simple although I can't say I followed them exactly. First, I found a large rock that fit the requirements and a container to put it in. Next, I added the correct amount of boiling water and the blue crystal powder that was in the kit into the container with the rock. Admittedly, what happened was that the first container I tried was too big, so I had to re-pour the solution into a smaller container. After that, I continued to follow the instructions that included steps such as covering and uncovering the solution and adding seed crystals to it. After a week, I ended up with a strange set of crystals if I could even call it that. The rock didn't have anything on it that I could have called a crystal. However, on the bottom of it, there was a layer of crystal that had tiny crystals on it. I ended up parting the two pieces and throwing away the rock. The result was not what I expected at all, and I considered it a failure.

The next crystal I tried to grow was a "diamond" cluster. Like before, I followed the instructions that were similar to the first set of instructions except with different amounts of ingredients. I suppose the results of the second set of crystals was more successful but still far from my expectations. When the experiment was finished, I ended up with a lot of moist globs of powder that was neither here nor there. From that mess, I was able to locate a couple of crystals that actually looked like, well, crystals.

There are still two more crystals to grow, but I can't start them yet until I find an old saucepan that will never be used again. However, I'm not exactly eager to be trying to grow crystals again after the first two failures. The first time, I admit that it was probably my fault that it failed because of the transfer of the solution, but the second time should have worked. Now, I'm not sure if it is me that is the problem or the kit. I really tried but to no avail. So far, I believe that the crystals that I saw on display at the gift shop were misleading. Perhaps it was because I wasn't exact enough, but I can't be exact down to the last drop of water. It could also be that I heated the water first and then poured it into the container with the crystal powder since I did not have a saucepan that would never to used again to mix the powder into the water while boiling. I don't know for sure. I just know that this kit isn't working for me and was in some ways not worth it to me.

(Pictures to come)