5th Singapore
National Crystal Growing Challenge
Attention grabbing, spectacular and beautiful!
Of course, we are describing large single crystals, which are both arresting
and fascinating. The wonderful colours, well-developed faces, sharp edges and
artistic forms displayed by crystals of naturally occurring minerals have given
rise to their use as precious jewellery and admiration as art objects. Crystals
also have many industrial applications. For example, not only are diamond and
ruby crystals aesthetically pleasing, they are also used in industry as cutting
tools and in lasers. Growing crystals of a desired size and shape is considered
an art as well as a science, and crystallisation techniques are being used to
separate and purify compounds.
5th
Singapore National Crystal Growing Challenge
1st Circular
2nd Circular
Venue: Multi-Purpose
Sports Hall 1
Submission Day: Thursday, 12 Sept. 2002,
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Judging Day: Friday, 13 Sept. 2002, 9:00 am. - 1:00 pm
Prize Presentation Ceremony and Exhibition Day
Saturday, 14 Sept. 2002, 9:00 am
Guest of Honour: Professor Louis Lim, A*STAR
Web
Photo Album (Judging Day)
Web Photo Album (Presentation Ceremony)
Winners List for 5th Singapore
National Crystal Growing Challenge (Yr 2002)
Junior Category
Champion: River Valley High School (Team
1)
1st Runner-up: Dunman Secondary
School (Team 2)
2nd Runner-up: Serangoon Garden Secondary
School
Meritorious Award: Montfort Secondary
School (Team 2)
Meritorious Award: Westwood Secondary
School (Team 1)
Senior Category
Champion: Victoria Junior College (Team
2)
1st Runner-up: Victoria Junior College
(Team 1)
2nd Runner-up: Jurong Junior College
(Team 2)
Meritorious Award: Temasek Polytechnic
(Team 1)
Meritorious Award: Anderson Junior College
(Team 1)
Open Category
Champion: The Chinese High School (Team
2)
1st Runner-up: Damai Secondary School
(Team 1)
2nd Runner-up: Braddell-Westlake Secondary
School
Meritorious Award: The Chinese High School
(Team 1)
The Sponsors
A*Star (Agency for
Science, Technology and Research)
Bruker Singapore Pte Ltd
Hyflux Ltd
Lee Foundation
Singapore National
Academy of Science
All
registration form must reach the
Department of Chemistry by 15 May 2002. The
participants are required to display their crystal, log book and poster in
the Multi-Purpose
Sports Hall 1
(MPSH) at NUS on 12 September 2002.
All entries will be judged on 13 September and the prize presentation
ceremony will be held on Saturday, 14 September.
There
are three categories in this competition. They are:
Junior Level -
for secondary school students,
Senior Level - for
junior college and polytechnic students, and
Open Level – for
secondary, junior college and polytechnic students. In order to compete
in this category, participating institutions should also have submitted entries
for the above categories
Each institution may submit a maximum of two entries in each category
and must restrict each entry to not more than two students.
All crystals must be grown at their respective institutions, under the supervision
of a teacher. Based on common scientific practices, students should record all
their experiments in a log book. Although all students are encouraged to grow
crystals, the teacher, or delegate, can select only the best two to represent
their institution in this challenge at each level.
Prizes
First, second, third and consolation prizes will be awarded for each category.
These include trophies for the first, second and third prize-winning entries.
Also, cash prize of $400, $300, $200 and $50 will be awarded for the first,
second, third and consolation prizes.
Please Note:
12 September 2002:
Participant should bring their
crystal(s), posters, etc. (any other accessories which you would like to use
for your exhibition) to the Multi-purpose Sports Hall 1 on 12 September 2002.
They can set-up their exhibition at any time between 11:00am - 4:00pm
The organising committee members
would be stationed at the competition hall to help the participants weigh and
measure their crystals. Plastic bags will be provided for you to display your
crystals
Participants will be provided
with a small table and a poster board for their display. Poster should be restricted
to 1 vanguard sheet and be prepared in portrait orientation. Only blue tag should
be used to hand the posters which will be provided.
13 September 2002:
9.00 - 13.00 hrs. Judging Day.
Only the judges will be present on this day.
14 September 2002: Prize-presentation
ceremony, 9:00am
Results of the competition will
be announced during the prize-presentation ceremony which will be held at 9:00am
at the competition venue. Teachers, participants and fellow school-mates are
strongly encouraged to attend. Please be seated by 8.45 am
Each participating institution
would be required to send one student to receive the Certificate of Participation
duirng the Prize Presentation Ceremony.
Please provide us the names (in block letters)
of your students who are participating in this year's competition by fax in
the form before 31 August 2002.
DISPLAY
Participants should also prepare a poster for their exhibit. The poster must
not exceed 65cm x 55cm in size and should include the following information:
Name
of crystal
Name
and address of participants
Photographs
showing at least three different stages of crystal growth
Experimental
procedure (e.g. solvent system used during crystallisation, amount of
compound used, percentage yield, equation/mechanism of reaction (where applicable),
etc.)
Conclusion
.
Enquiries
For
further information, please contact:
Assoc. Prof. Jagadese J VITTAL (Ph: 6516-2975; E-mail: chmjjv@nus.edu.sg)
Assoc. Prof. Edward R.T. TIEKINK
The details of this competition are given
below. For safety reasons, all experiments must be performed under the supervision
of a school teacher/lecturer.
Junior
Level
Potassium Chromium Sulfate Dodecahydrate ("Chrome Alum" )
Chrome Alum - Cubic purple crystals
The chrome alum solution is dark blue-green but the crystals are purple. The
single crystals can be grown easily but the saturated solution is so dark that
is difficult to monitor the crystal growth. You may reduce the darkness of the
solution by diluting with the aqueous solution of "Potash Aum" (Potassium
Aluminum Sulfate Dodecahydrate). However, the final crystal for this entry is
only the purple color crystal(s). It may be a challenge for you to get only
the purple crystals!
Senior
Level
Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP)
Do you remember the World's largest grown single crystal is KDP? The crystal
with a weight of 315 Kg and size 65 x 53" x 58 cm was grown in 52 days!
(see http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/06news/NewsMedia/KDPcrystalcap.html and http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/06news/NewsReleases/2000/NR-00-02-02.html
This challenge involves growing the biggest and best quality single crystals
of KDP.
Open Level
Theme:
Crystal in a crystal. For this category, your imagination and scientific
background is the limit. You should grow two different color and/or shaped crystals
one in another.
The main objective of this category is to provide students with an opportunity
to exercise their creativity individuality and scientific knowledge. In
order to compete in this category, participating institutions should have submitted
entries for any of the above categories.
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