really cool... could be a sharper image.. where the hell do you get CuSO4? and how big is this crystal?

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No matter what I do, If the camera is a few inches from the sample, I can't get a decent focus range (understandably), and I don't have a macro lens anywhere. This sample is a little under an inch from tip to tip of the two big crystals. Where did I get the copper sulfate? Home Depot or most any hardware store...They sell it as tree root killer (in case they're growing in your pipes) at 99% purity.

Hm, what I do sometimes to simulate macro is I take the pic focused from a bit away, and then I crop it down on the computer. There's also a macro setting on my digital camera but it doesn't always work so well.

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Gorgeous!

What solvent did you recrystalize in? Those are really nice, by the way, way larger than one usually sees. And why'd you need pure copper sulfate pentahydrate anyway?

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"No the cat can't collapse the wavefunction, the cat -is- the wavefunction!"
-R. Schoonover

Just water. It is virtually insoluble in any other common solvent. It is several times more soluble in boiling water than in cold water. So I heated to boiling in a toaster oven, reduced by at least half, and let it cool overnight. I woke up to a whole pan full of crystals and a few hundred milliliters of liquid left.

I needed it because I like to play around with chemistry (and I'm neurotic). Copper sulfate makes a nice segway to other copper compounds since it is readily converted to carbonate or hydroxide (chloride would prefer to make oxychlorides and nitrate is hard to lay hands on). I also use a number of the chemicals on hand to put finishes on metalwork. For example, a copper salt mixed with a chloride source attacks aluminum, giving it a patchy, aged look.

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"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately" -The Immortal George Carlin

Ahh, ok. I've never done a water recrystallization (ya know, aside from sugar back in junior high), I've usually used some mixture of ethanol and ethyl acetate, or else a mostly nonpolar solvent of some sort, but that's just because that's what worked for the compounds I was recrystallizing. Most of what I've worked with was insoluble in water at any temperature. Also, that was an actual class, so they had to justify the lab fees somehow

I've never tried to get my hands on nitrate salts, but seeing as there are a good deal of explosives that start with nitrates... I can see why it'd be difficult. Still, nitrates make some really nicely colored coordination compounds, and tend to be water soluble, which is always a plus.

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"No the cat can't collapse the wavefunction, the cat -is- the wavefunction!"
-R. Schoonover

Generally, they are really water soluble, which can be quite annoying since they end up hygroscopic. I have purified sodium, potassium, and ammonium nitrates on hand (If I was intent on blowing something up why would I have bothered recrystallizing...That's my line of defense). I still haven't figured out what to do with them, although they are handy as oxidizers in molten-state reactions for making things like dichromates. If you know where to look in a hardware store KNO3 and NaNO3 are easy finds. I have a large variety of nonpolar solvents as well...

I wish I had the equipment to do organics, but I'm stuck in the realm of inorganic chem.

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Member of *metalweavers

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately" -The Immortal George Carlin

Have you thought about setting up a rudimentary drying box to keep the hygroscopics in so that they don't pick up the water? We used to have these really neat sealed containers where the bottom half was full of anhydrous magnesium sulfate pellets that would absorb all ambient humidity and keep your compounds dry over the weekend so you could do labs over multiple days without having to re-dry your sample every time you got into class. Looks like you can get the hydrous form of magnesium sulfate commercially as epsom salts, and I can't imagine it'd be difficult to dry the stuff in an oven... If you then taint the magnesium sulfate with a compound that changes color from the anhydrous to the hydrous form, you have a cute way of knowing when to change the pellets out for new ones. It was quite handy.

Also, what sort of equipment are you missing? I've always wanted to get my hands on a good distillation apparatus (I'd love to extract and purify essential oils) and a separatory funnel. I figure once I get my teaching credential that should be much easier.

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"No the cat can't collapse the wavefunction, the cat -is- the wavefunction!"
-R. Schoonover