Official Kids Mag

to form, depending on the humidity in your home (they'll grow better in drier air). Several days later, the trees will be covered in delicate needle like crystals. The tree will keep growing until all of the liquid evaporates. Note! Your tree is extremely delicate so make sure you don't bump it at all or the crystals can fall right off. If you want your tree to grow more, just add more solution. Your tree will last about a week before it starts to crumble. Toss it in the trash when it is done (all of the ingredients are safe to discard). the science behind it The solution we mixed up created a suspension, a mixture that has solid particles that are large enough for sedimentation (settling out.) The solid particles settled out on the cardboard tree due to a couple of processes. First, the liquid suspension is drawn up the cardboard tree through a process called capillary action. Capillary action is the ability of a liquid to defy gravity and flow upwards. In narrow areas, the combination of surface tension of water and the adhesive forces between the container and the liquid help to lift the liquid. This effect can be seen when when paint is drawn up between the bristles of a paint brush, and when porous materials like cardboard draw up water. The next process is evaporation, where liquid molecules escape from the solution as gas molecules. Ammonia evaporates much quicker than water and we added it to the solution to speed up the evaporation process. Once the solution travelled up the cardboard and evaporated, the next process could occur. The final process, crystallization, occurred as the water and ammonia molecules leave the solution through evaporation. The bluing and salt that remain can no longer be supported in the remaining solution and begin to crystalize. *Mrs. Stewart's Bluing is a colloidal suspension of extremely minute particles of blue powder (Ferric Hexacyanoferrate.) These minute particles act as nuclei, or seeds for crystallization to take place. This is similar to the process that occurs in cloud formation. tips to help your tree "grow" better • Good air circulation: The drier the air, the better. An environment where the water and the bluing can evaporate is key to the success of crystal growth. • Using a glass pie plate that is very open rather than a fish bowl style container will be helpful. As the liquid evaporates out the top of the base the material, the salt is left behind in salt crystalline form. The rate of growth depends largely on the humidity of the surrounding environment, taking from hours to days to begin. How do the salt crystals grow? Table salt (NaCl) can be dissolved in water. The amount of salt in a particular quantity of water depends on its temperature – more being soluble in warmer water. The oceans of the world contain about 5% salt, but lakes such as The Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea have salts to about 25%. People who live near the ocean often transfer sea water to open pools where evaporation can take place. This is still done in the Hawaiian Islands where there is an extended dry season. As water evaporates, some of the salt cannot be retained and crystals of salt form along the edges of the pools and finally when all the water is gone there will be crystals on the bottom of the dried pool. These need only purification to be used as table salt. The recipe for the Crystal Tree calls for very large amounts of salt in the presence of little liquid. That's why the crystallization takes place very quickly. The purpose of the porous material (cardboard) is to provide a means for capillary action to carry the liquid containing bluing and salt up from the main source of liquid. This further speeds up evaporation and causes the crystals to form over a larger area than just the rim of the bowl. OfficialKidsmag.com • December 2020 • 11 Name: Kids Mag 2 x 5" Customer Name: COSMIC CAVERNS Ad Number: 112920NWR2321 6386 Arkansas 21• Berryville, Arkansas 870-749-2298 www.cosmiccavern.com -Holiday Schedule- Open for Tours December 19-December 31 -Closed Christmas Day- Cosmic Ozark Mts. AR Cavern Est. 1845 • Limestone Cave • 64 degrees contestant temp • Family holiday adventure Great Family Time Adventure for the Holidays!

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