Please pass the salt
Making salt crystals using evaporation
Evaporation!
How can this process be used to make something useful – something like salt?
Salt! We use it everyday in our homes and it is used in almost every recipe, even ice-cream! The obvious place to get salt is in the sea (just take a mouthful of sea water and you will know what I mean!!) Is this where the salt we use on our tables comes from? That is what we are going to discover in this project.
Making salt is something that a kid or even a 35 year old dad will enjoy observing! The best way to watch this happen is through the process of crystal making. The photo shows the kind of crystal you will end up making in this project...
The project – step by step
The Question
Where does salt come from?
The Hypothesis
Sea water is full of salt (that is a fact)! I can get the salt out of the sea water by using evaporation.
The Experiment
Crystal Making
Why this experiment?
You already know that sea water is full of salt. If you can use the process of the evaporation of water to take salt crystals out of salty water, whether it is genuine sea water or salty water that you have made, you can show how salt is made.
Remember to keep a
log book
recording all your discoveries you make.
The Conclusion
Salt can be taken out of sea water by evaporating the water away.
“Beef up your project” facts
Salt is made up of two elements – sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl). So its chemical name is sodium chloride (NaCl).
(Practice the following for your next meal: “Please would you pass me the sodium chloride.” Expect the following response: “Huh!?”)
WARNING: Sodium by itself, if eaten, is poisonous. Chlorine gas if breathed in is also poisonous– put them together and you got something that makes food taste great – go figure!
Look it up
Evaporation of sea water is not the only way that salt is produced.
How did ancient civilizations make salt?
Find out about your country’s salt making process.
How are sugar crystals made?
More...
So what can you do to apply your newly learned knowledge. Try out these ideas:Try making sugar crystals on sticks and sell it to your friends.
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