Magic Crystal Tree

Create a magically colorful, snow-covered tree

Impress your friends by creating a colorful Christmas tree out of salt crystals, cardboard, and a few other household items. Within a day, you'll have a colorful snow-covered tree that seemed to magically sprout from nothing!

Materials

Mrs. Stewart's Bluing (check your local grocer's cleaning section)
Table salt
Household ammonia
Thin cardboard (like the type from the back of a notepad, not corrugated)
Pen or pencil
Scissors
Bowl
Water
Measuring spoon
Food coloring
Adult supervision

Experiment
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Trace two Christmas tree shapes onto the cardboard and cut them out.
Cut a slot down the middle of one tree shape. Start at the top and stop in the middle of the shape.
In the other tree shape, cut another slot down the middle. On this shape, start at the bottom and cut to the middle.
Slide the two slots together, creating a three-dimensional tree shape that can stand by itself.
Add drops of food coloring to the edges of the cardboard and let the food coloring soak into the cardboard.
Using the bowl, mix these ingredients together:
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon bluing
- 1/2 tablespoon of household ammonia
Stand your tree in the middle of the bowl containing your magic solution and be patient. Over the next 10 to 12 hours, your Magic Crystal Tree will grow and grow and grow! Pretty soon, you'll have a colorful snow-covered tree that grew by pure magic.

How does it work?

You probably have us figured out... that Magic Crystal Tree isn't magic at all! You're right, but do you know the science behind the crystalline growth of the cardboard tree?

The main principle at work here is capillary action. 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 magic 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 magic solution evaporates off of the tree, the crystals are left behind on the branches of the tree.

The magic crystals that are left behind are a combination of the Mrs. Stewart's Bluing and the table salt. 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. These tiny suspended particles aid the dissolved salt in crystalizing as the magic solution evaporates.

Trees are cool

Priscilla - May 20, 2013

This user gave 4/5 stars

My daughter enjoyed the simplicity of this expirement. We were able to do this in one day and watch it form crystals. Very good way to teach kids on observation details.