This exercise is geared to allow students to gain basic experiences by completing an simple experiment and using that as a base to design their own experiments to answer their own questions. The size of a crystal varies greatly and depends on many factors. The primary factors are the physical and chemical conditions surrounding the crystal as it grows. Crystals can be so small that a microscope is needed to see them or they can be very large. In this activity you will study the effect of cooling time on the size of crystals.
Specific gravity is a measure of the density of a material.
It compares the density of the material to the density of water. Density is a characteristic property of any material found by dividing the mass of the material by its volume. In this activity, you will conduct a series of investigations to discover what properties liquid crystals and solid crystals have in common. By building a kaleidoscope, you will study the characteristics of polarized light. You will also read about the industrial applications of liquid crystals and, through the dissection of a digital watch, you will see how a liquid crystal display works.