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Snowy Christmas Tree

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A small, green, cardboard Christmas tree, covered in white, crystalline material, stands in a clear dish filled with the same material, on a green and red Christmas-themed cloth, with other festive decorations, including a red and white toy airplane and a green present, in the background.

Here's a fascinating and simple crystal growth experiment. Watch as crystals slowly form on your paper Christmas tree! While a Christmas tree shape creates a festive atmosphere, you can choose any shape you like - just remember to include plenty of points in your design. Read on to find out why.

Materials Needed

Salt
Water
Petri dish
Scissors
Pencil
Tablespoon
Lolly stick
Absorbent paper
Ruler

A sheet of green card, a clear plastic dish, a beaker of water, a beaker of white powder, a measuring spoon, scissors, a pencil, a wooden stick, and a ruler are arranged on a light wood-grain surface.

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1

Using a pencil, draw your favourite Christmas tree design on paper.

A hand draws a Christmas tree shape on a piece of green card with a pencil on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 2

Fold the paper in half.

Two hands fold a piece of green card in half on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 3

Using scissors, cut along your pencil lines to create the Christmas tree shape. You'll end up with two identical trees.

Two hands use scissors to cut along a pencil line of a Christmas tree shape drawn on a piece of green card on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 4

Measure the tree's length and mark the centre point with a pencil. On one tree, draw a line from the centre to the bottom, and on the other, from the centre to the top, as shown in the diagram.

Two identical Christmas tree shapes cut from green card, each with a vertical line drawn down the centre, lie on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 5

Slot the two trees together at their openings to create a 3D Christmas tree.

Two hands slot two identical Christmas tree shapes cut from green card together on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 6

Next, dissolve 3 tablespoons of salt in 60ml of water, stirring until no more salt will dissolve. This creates a supersaturated salt solution.

A hand pours white crystals from a black measuring spoon into a glass beaker of water, next to a small glass dish of the same white crystals, on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 7

Place your 3D tree in the petri dish.

A small, green, cardboard Christmas tree stands in a clear, shallow dish on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 8

Pour the supersaturated salt solution into the petri dish. Wait patiently for 72 hours as the paper tree absorbs the salt water.

A hand pours water from a glass beaker into a clear dish, in which a small, green, cardboard Christmas tree stands, on a light wood-grain surface.

Step 9

Once the paper has absorbed the solution and dried, salt crystals will form on the paper. Your snowy Christmas tree is complete!

The Science Behind It:

Your crystals grow due to several scientific phenomena! Firstly, through capillary action, your paper tree absorbs the supersaturated salt solution. This works similarly to how trees transport water from their roots to their branches.

Once the paper tree is saturated with solution, it begins to evaporate from the branches. As evaporation occurs, tiny salt particles are left behind, eventually forming the crystals you see!

Have you noticed that crystals form more readily at the tree's points? Why do you think this happens?

This occurs because capillary action is stronger at the paper's points, and these areas have a larger surface area. Surface tension causes the liquid to flow quickly to the points and evaporate faster, resulting in more crystal formation.

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