Making Silver crystals

Making small crystals of silver from a solution of  Silver Nitrate and a piece of copper wire

Getting the system setup

First we wrapped the wire around a pencil to make a coil. This creates a larger surface area and produces more silver.

Next the solution 0.1M Silver Nitrate is added to cover the copper coil in a test tube. This is then left in a dark place for an hour or so.

After about an hour the test tube is take of of the dark and here we can see the copper wire has changed colour. The solution has gone a light blue and crystals have formed.

We then place this under the microscope.

and take a few pictures of what we see.

and sure enough some crystals are formed. The longer you leave this the better and bigger the crystals.