Void Crystals

Overview

This project aims to answer the question of how environments of varying vacuum levels affect the size and shape of synthetic crystals. The hypothesis is that the crystals grown will have a greater size and more defined shape as the pressure decreases starting at 30 in.Hg and decreasing to an ultimate of 0 in.Hg. A foreign object was suspended into heated supersaturated solutions of water and another material. The other materials used are: * borax * monoammonium phosphate * phitkari (potassium aluminum sulfate) The prepared solutions will be placed into the vacuum chamber and the vacuum chamber will be operated. After 24 hours, the crystals will be extracted and measured through the use of a caliper. After viewing the results, it is observed that when the pressure decreased, the crystal sizes for monoammonium phosphate and potassium aluminum sulfate grew in size. Borax, however, was more resilient and stayed normal size. The hypothesis was mostly validated, as the crystals’ sizes increased, but borax did not grow larger, staying normal sized throughout the project. More research is needed to discover more patterns and behaviors.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Chemistry (Junior Division) · Entry J-05-12

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