Year 1997

Instructions on the Competition

For safety reasons, all experiments must be performed under the supervision of a school teacher/lecturer.

Junior Level

Students participating in this category are required to grow a large single crystal of Copper(II) Sulphate from a maximum of 200gms of the material*. This chemical is available from any of the local chemical suppliers (a list of suppliers is given below).

Entries will be judged by: their weight (yield), size, morphology and Clarity.

Senior Level

The experiment for this category consists of two steps.

STEP 1:Students are required to develop a procedure to produce the Rochelle Salt from cream of tartar(potassium bitrartrate) and 100gm baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)*. These ingredients are available from the supermarkets and local chemical suppliers (a list of suppliers is given below).

STEP 2: The product obtained is crystallized in an appropriate solvent system to produce a large single crystal of Rochelle salt.

Entries will be judged by according to the yield of the Rochelle salt obtained and the quality of the grown crystal.

Open Level

In order to comete in the category, participating institutions should have submitted entries for the above categories.

Participants in this category are required to grow a crystal from any compound (other than those used in the Junior and Senior levels) of their choice.

The main objective of this category is to provide students with an opportunity to exercise their creativity individuality and scientific knowledge.

Entries in this level will be judged on: originality, chemical knowledge and quality of the crystal.

*This amount should be attested by your supervisor in you log book.

Judging Guidelines

1. The idea is to grow a SINGLE CRYSTAL, not a cluster of crystals.
2. The quality of the crystal will make up 70% of the total score. The remaining 30% will be allocated to the poster and log book presentation.

Chemical Suppliers