The speed at which a chemical reaction takes place is usually a function of particle size and the smaller the particles the more it's going to react or more quickly it's going to react. You can reduce the particle size using a mortar and a pestle. This video is going to show you how to use one of these effectively. Here we have something somewhat lumpy and blue chemical. Place all of it in the mortar and when you're grinding put the pestle inside and just rotate around. Don't whack at it like this. Just rotate around and if it's stuck up on the sides bring it down. If you look closely you'll see I've got some light blue particles there and still some darker ones. As you grind colored items they almost always become paler in color because you've increased the surface area. Now you'll notice that this is really quite pale and quite powdery now. So this has now been ground appropriately. Don't whack at it like this. You will break something and it will not be pleasant. At one point you may have to dissolve a really large lump and that's a tablet. Again if you really whack at this you're going to end up with little bits flying all over the place. Not the best way to do it. So instead take a tablet and push down on it with the pestle and you'll get small chunks like that and then again rub in a circle and push down somewhat on the lumps rather than whacking and you'll get a nice smooth powder. When you are transferring away from this I'll transfer this onto a weighing paper. It will pour out of the spout. However you will almost certainly still have some solid left. Try scraping this down and tapping some more and get as much out as you can. You may end up with some particles stuck on the side that you can't get off but you will have to use something to remove the powder that adheres to the surface of the mortar. You should now know how to grind properly with a mortar and pestle without sending solid particles flying across the lab.