Instructions on the Competition

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

Junior Level

Cubic or tetrahedral crystals of Sodium Chlorate, NaClO3

Sodium chlorate crystals grow easily in the form of cubes.

Adding some borax to the solution can change the shape of NaClO3 crystals. You should add 6 grams of borax for every 100 grams of NaClO3 in the growing solution to get tetrahedral shaped crystals.

Shape is an important factor for judging the quality. Keep in shape! You should submit either cubic or tetrahedral crystal for final submissions.

Senior Level

Blue-green Nickel sulphate hexahydrate, NiSO4·6H2O crystal (tetragonal system)

You need to take extra precautions to exclude the formation of NiSO4·6H2O (green, orthorhombic system). At room temperature the heptahydrate will usually come out of solutions. The first problem is to get suitable seed crystals of hexhydrate. This is best done by seeding with a grain or two from the supply bottle that contains the hexahydrate. If the seeds growing from these grains are chunky instead of long, they are crystals of the hexahydrate.

Caution! Crystals deteriorate on standing, Crystals can be stored indefinitely in sealed bottle and/or controlled humidity.

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 organic/organometallic compound 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.

Chemical Suppliers

Winners List