Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Salty

I couldn't wait any longer. I had to empty the French press filled with saline solution and see what I had. The bottom was filled with a layer of evenly spaced salt cubes or clusters thereof . These are about 1/8" on average, and can be use as "seed" crystals later on.
I really got excited about the steel wire structure I had suspended in the solution. There are dozens of perfectly cubic crystals growing right around the rusty wire! I like the rust, but I'm not sure yet how it's affecting the crystals. This form is definitely going back into a solution so these and more crystals can grow. The cubic crystals only grow within the liquid, not at the top where the water evaporates, leaving white powdery crystals. These cubic crystals are solid and translucent.



And here's the sugar crystal cluster formed in the bowl sitting on my workbench. These crystals are shaped like peaked rooftops.

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