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Chemical Garden
 
 
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A chemical garden is an experiment in chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 normally done by adding solid
Solid

A solid object is in the states of matter characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume. In other words, it has high values both of Young's modulus and of shear modulus; this contrasts e.g....
 metal
Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
 salts such as copper sulfate or cobalt(II) chloride
Cobalt(II) chloride

Cobalt chloride is the chemical compound with the formula cobaltchlorine, although the term is used also to refer to the hexahydrate, which is a different chemical compound....
 to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate
Sodium silicate

Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, Na2SiO3, also known as water glass or liquid glass....
 (otherwise known as waterglass). The Chemical Garden was first observed and described by Johann Rudolf Glauber
Johann Rudolf Glauber

Johann Rudolf Glauber , a Germany-Netherlands alchemy and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers....
 in 1646. In its original form, the Chemical Garden involved the introduction of ferrous chloride (FeCl2) crystals into a solution of potassium silicate
Potassium silicate

Potassium silicate is a water-soluble silicate salt that is commonly used as an adhesive in welding rods.This compound has been in use for at least a century....
 (K2SiO3, water glass).

The Chemical Garden relies on the fact that most transition metal
Transition metal

In chemistry, the term transition metal has two possible meanings:*It commonly refers to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, including the group 12 element elements zinc, cadmium and Mercury ....
 silicates are insoluble in water and are coloured.

A metal salt such as cobalt chloride will start to dissolve in the water.






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A chemical garden is an experiment in chemistry
Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
 normally done by adding solid
Solid

A solid object is in the states of matter characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume. In other words, it has high values both of Young's modulus and of shear modulus; this contrasts e.g....
 metal
Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
 salts such as copper sulfate or cobalt(II) chloride
Cobalt(II) chloride

Cobalt chloride is the chemical compound with the formula cobaltchlorine, although the term is used also to refer to the hexahydrate, which is a different chemical compound....
 to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate
Sodium silicate

Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, Na2SiO3, also known as water glass or liquid glass....
 (otherwise known as waterglass). The Chemical Garden was first observed and described by Johann Rudolf Glauber
Johann Rudolf Glauber

Johann Rudolf Glauber , a Germany-Netherlands alchemy and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers....
 in 1646. In its original form, the Chemical Garden involved the introduction of ferrous chloride (FeCl2) crystals into a solution of potassium silicate
Potassium silicate

Potassium silicate is a water-soluble silicate salt that is commonly used as an adhesive in welding rods.This compound has been in use for at least a century....
 (K2SiO3, water glass).

The Chemical Garden relies on the fact that most transition metal
Transition metal

In chemistry, the term transition metal has two possible meanings:*It commonly refers to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, including the group 12 element elements zinc, cadmium and Mercury ....
 silicates are insoluble in water and are coloured.

A metal salt such as cobalt chloride will start to dissolve in the water. It will then form insoluble cobalt silicate by a double decomposition reaction (anion metathesis
Metathesis

Metathesis may refer to the following:* Metathesis , in phonology, a sound change that alters the order of phonemes in a word** Quantitative metathesis, a situation in which two vowel sounds follow directly one after the other and a transposition of vowel length takes place...
). This cobalt silicate is a semipermeable membrane
Membrane

A membrane is a layer of material which serves as a selective barrier between two Phase and remains permeation to specific particles or group of particles or substances when exposed to the action of a Membrane potential....
. Because the ionic strength
Ionic strength

The ionic strength of a solution is a measure of the concentration of ions in that solution. Ionic compounds, when dissolved in water, dissociate into ions....
 of the cobalt solution inside the membrane is higher than the sodium silicate solution which forms the bulk of the tank contents, osmotic effects will increase the pressure within the membrane. This will cause the membrane to tear, forming a hole. The cobalt cations will react with the silicate anions at this tear so forming new solid. In this way growths will form in the tanks; these will be coloured (according to the metal) and may look like plants. The crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
s formed from this experiment will grow upwards, since the pressure at the bottom of the tank is higher than the pressure closer to the top of the tank, therefore forcing the crystals to grow upwards.

While at first it might seem like the crystal garden is just a bit of fun, some serious work has been done on the subject. For instance this chemistry is related to the setting of cement
Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together....
, and during the corrosion
Corrosion

Corrosion means the breaking down of essential properties in a material due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of electrons of metals reacting with water and oxygen....
 of steel surfaces tubes can be formed. A Chemical Garden helps one to understand the nature of that chemical substance.

External links

  • Chemical gardens in space:


See also

  • The toy based on chemical gardens: Magic rocks
    Magic rocks

    Magic Rocks, also sometimes referred to or marketed as chemical garden, are a novelty item for creating rock-like formations. A typical package of Magic Rocks contains an envelope of liquid sodium silicate and a small handful of colored "rocks" that are actually chunks of water soluble salt ....
  • Simple classroom demonstrations: Mercury beating heart
    Mercury beating heart

    The mercury beating heart is an electrochemistry reaction of the element mercury to iron and an electrolyte. The observeable reaction demonstrates an effect of a non-homogeneous electrical double layer ....