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Amazing Crystal Lagoon Facts and Cool Details

We think of the Amazing Crystal Lagoon kit as a unique, "chemical art" experimentation set unlike any so far! We have been playing with it for ages but we are sure there are heaps more tricks for you to discover! There are two basic ideas we used when we invented it:

When Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) react with water glass (sodium silicate, and also known as "liquid glass"), it makes a spongy gel shell that lets the tiny water molecules through but stops the larger chemical molecules.
Both substances dissolve in water to make very dense liquids. We just played and played with the density gradients and our instant gel reactions until we had discovered squishy coral, smart seahorses, and antigravity doughnuts. Not to mention Titanic rusticles. Oh we mentioned the rusticles! But we are sure there is much more to discover.

The Physics

Sodium Silicate can make very dense solutions that look just like water but are much heavier. This means we can "float" lighter solutions over denser solutions to make what are called density gradients.
This happens in nature, too. Fresh water from big rivers can flow hundreds of miles on top of salt sea water before it mixes. You can even have fresh water fish above, and salt water fish below! How is this possible? The salt in salty sea water makes the water heavier than it would be if it were fresh, or without the salt.
It just so happens that our sea horse plastic is denser than water but less dense than some sodium silicate solutions.
Amazingly Magnesium sulfate can also make density gradients like sodium silicate.

The Chemistry

When Magnesium Sulfate meets Sodium Silicate solution a gel of Magnesium Silicate forms instantly.
Now, if the magnesium sulfate is very concentrated inside the gel, (for instance a crystal), it will suck water out of the sodium silicate through the gel-shell! This process is called osmosis.
So the gel swells and pops. Magnesium Sulfate solution floods out, meets the Sodium Silicate and more gel forms, more water comes in and in no time you are growing a chemical garden.
Depending on the density of the sodium silicate solution, branches can grow upwards like plants or downwards like icicles.

A WILD Career
Now, you may be thinking what does this have to do with real science? Our answer: everything! Density gradients are used everyday in medical laboratories to separate out cells and DNA fragments, viruses and bacteria, and, ultimately, to save lives. Gels and osmosis are at the forefront in research for emergency water filtration, purification, and more. If the world had clean water for everyone, disease and malnutrition would be much easier to fight. For now, however, gels, osmosis, and density gradients are just serious fun.

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