Science - Crystal formation

We used a kit because some of the ingredients for this are typically American. This was just a fun little experiment to see how the crystals formed. 

✓ 1 tablespoon water
✓ 1 tablespoon salt
✓ 1 tablespoon bluing
✓ ½ tablespoon household ammonia (optional)

– Put the bowl in a place where your tree will not be disturbed for a few days.
– Place the cardboard tree into the bowl with the solution.

Capillary action is the same process that enables plants and trees to take water and nutrients from the soil up through their stems or trunks and into their leaves, branches, flowers, and fruit. The cardboard tree uses the same process to draw the magic solution up through its entire shape until the cardboard has soaked itself in the solution.

After the solution has been drawn throughout the tree by capillary action, the solution begins to evaporate. The evaporation process is accelerated by the ammonia, which evaporates more quickly than water. As the solution evaporates off of the tree, the crystals are left behind on the branches of the tree.

The solution that you created is supersaturated by the bluing and salt that you add to the water. The bluing is a colloid, with many tiny particles suspending themselves within the water. It’s just like when you shake up a snow globe, except the particles of bluing are much smaller than the snow. As the bluing and salt water make their way up the tree, the water begins evaporating. These means there is less water able to support the bluing particles and dissolved salt. This evaporation allows the salt and bluing particles to crystallize, resulting in your beautiful tree.