Starting crystals with aluminum potassium sulfate powder?

I have a homework assignment over the summer which is due on the first day of school. My assignment is to test the growth of crystals in different temperatures.





First I have to start the crystals. I did this by mixing water and my aluminum potassium sulfate (powdered) until it was saturated. Then I put the crystal mix outside. I did this two times and it still didn't turn out like hard rock crystals. Instead it is still powdery. So what did I do wrong. And how to I get it right.





Thanks in advance.Starting crystals with aluminum potassium sulfate powder?
carebear,





In the crystal growing game, you ';crashed out'; the precipitate. You really need patience to do good crystal growth -- there is a very good explanation of doing it in the reference below.





Basically, you should heat the solution ***just*** enough to dissolve all the salt. Then, it works best if you have a ';seed crystal'; that you can put in the solution as it cools. ***Easy does it*** when it comes to cooling. You may not even need to put it outside -- let it cool off ***slowly***.





If you have enough material, you might want to get multiple batches going -- no, they won't get jealous of each other and try to compete to get the best crystals. It's just that sometimes I found that the edges of the containers can have slight differences, and the surface roughness will help to initiate crystallization.





Hope that helped (and good luck)!