Earth > Grow Rock Candy

Grow Rock Candy

Whether it's big or small, rough or smooth, almost every rock is made of minerals. Each mineral has a unique crystal pattern and compostion.

Think about the mineral salt. It is made of cube- shaped crystals. No matter where you find it — on your table or at the beach — its crystals will be shaped like cubes. Look at the drawings of the crystals that make up diamonds, muscovite, quartz, and topaz. How would you describe their crystal shape?

DIAMOND

Cubic
Structure

MUSCOVITE

Monoclinic
Structure

QUARTZ

Triagonal
Hexagonal
Structure

TOPAZ

Orthorhombic
Structure

The same mineral can have different colors. This is caused by small amounts of different elements that got into the mineral when it was forming. While the color of a mineral may vary, its crystal shape is always the same.

For example, diamonds can be clear, yellow, pink, and even blue, but its crystals will always have eight faces (sides).

Now it's your turn to grow crystals by making rock candy!

The Materials

an adult to help you
1 pencil
1 paper clip
tall glass
1 piece of non-colored string (about 2 inches longer than the height of your glass)
1 cup of water
3 cups of sugar
1 saucepan
stovetop or burner
clock or timer
food coloring

What To Do

Part 1: Start Your Crystals

Pour 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water into a saucepan.

one child pouring sugar into a saucepan while the other child pours in water

Stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar disappears.

A cloudy mixture of sugar and water in a saucepan

the fully dissolved sugar in water mixture looks clear in the saucepan

Add 1 more cup of sugar, a little at a time. Keep stirring until the sugar disappears.

Turn off the heat. Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool for 25 minutes.

While you are waiting, clean the paper clip with soap and water. Tie one end of the string to the pencil. Tie the other end to the paper clip.

tying the other end of the string to a paper clip

Have an adult pour the mixture into the glass. (It helps to use a funnel or do this over a sink.)

Place the pencil over the top, letting the paper clip fall into the mixture. Let it sit on a counter for 12 hours.

pencil places across the top of the glass with the string and paper clip hanging into the liquid in the glass

Remove the pencil and string and set it aside. What do you see? (Sugar isn't a mineral, but it forms crystal shapes just as minerals do.)

the string with formed crystals places aside to dry on a paper towel

Part 2: Grow Crystals of a Different Color

Reheat the sugar mixture in a pan. Keep stirring until the sugar disappears.

Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool for 25 minutes.

Have an adult pour the mixture into a glass. This, time, add a few drops of food coloring. Stir it well so that the color mixes throughout the liquid.

putting a few drops of red food coloring into glass with sugar and water mixture

Place the pencil over the top of the glass, letting the paper clip fall into the mixture. Let is sit for 12 more hours.

pencil and string placed on top of the glass with red food coloring and sugar water mixture

Remove the pencil and set it aside. What happened to the crystals? How would you describe the crystals that formed? Are they different from the first crystals you made?

Part 3: They Can Keep Growing and Growing and...