How To Make Sulfur Crystals

By
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Chemistry Expert
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
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Updated on August 03, 2018

Some crystals form from a melted solid rather than a saturated solution. An example of an easy-to-grow crystal from a hot melt is sulfur. Sulfur forms bright yellow crystals that spontaneously change form.

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Grow Sulfur Crystals from a Melt and Watch Them Change Shape

Sulfur forms distinctive yellow crystals that spontaneously change shape.
Sulfur forms distinctive yellow crystals that spontaneously change shape. DEA/C.BEVILACQUA, Getty Images

Materials

  • Sulfur
  • Bunsen Burner
  • Spoon

Procedure

  1. Heat a spoonful of sulfur powder in the burner flame. You want the sulfur to melt rather than burn, so avoid letting it get too hot. Sulfur melts into a red liquid. If it gets too hot, it will burn with a blue flame. Remove the sulfur from the flame as soon as it liquefies.
  2. Once removed from the flame, the sulfur will cool from the hot melt into needles of monoclinic sulfur. These crystals will spontaneously transition into rhomic needles within a few hours.
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Try a Related Project

Sulfur is used in other fun science projects, too:

Make Plastic Sulfur

Make a Chemical Compound from Iron and Sulfur

Grow More Crystals

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Your Citation
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How To Make Sulfur Crystals." ThoughtCo, Oct. 29, 2020, thoughtco.com/how-to-make-sulfur-crystals-606254. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2020, October 29). How To Make Sulfur Crystals. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-sulfur-crystals-606254 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How To Make Sulfur Crystals." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-sulfur-crystals-606254 (accessed June 2, 2023).