Glow In The Dark Alum Crystals (Creative Chemistry Experiments)

You will need:

1. Hot water
2. Alum
3. Fluorescent highlighter
4. Jar
5. String
6. Rubber/Latex gloves
   q Glass
   q Newspaper & Tissue paper

Growing your very own crystals is fun, but imagine how much more exciting it would be if they could glow in the dark!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Firstly, cover the entire workspace with a newspaper and put on the rubber
   gloves, because this experiment is
   going to be a bit messy.
2. Next, remove the cartridge of the highlighter pen and cut it open.
3. Take a glass of hot water and squeeze
   out as much of the fluorescent ink into it as you can.
4. Take the alum and start dissolving it into the fluorescent coloured water, while gradually adding more.
5. Keep adding and stirring alum into the hot water until no more alum dissolves in the water.
6. Keep this water aside covered with a tissue paper for 1-2 days.
7. Take the bowl and pour the water into a jar. Do not throw it away.
8. Select a largish crystal from the bottom of the bowl, and tie it to a string, with the other end of the string tied to a pencil or long ruler.
9. Place the ruler/pencil over the fluorescent liquid jar so that the string and the crystal may be suspended in the water. Leave this solution for another few days till the crystal has grown to the size you want.

RESULT

Thanks to the fluorescent in the water, you now have grown your very own glow in the dark alum crystals.