If you carefully performed the experiment,
you will see little crystal cubes. A grain of
(storebought)
salt is made up of many cubes. Place
one or two grains of fresh salt on another
blank slide and co pare it with the slide
containing the crystal cubes.
Wash the slides in clean water and liquid
soap.
Rinse well and dry.
Further Crystal Experiments: Try out the
above procedure with other salts such
as Epsom and Rochelle. Sugar will also
crystallize, but you will need to let it dry
overnight for the crystals to form.
Preparing a Mount
Dip your scalpel (A, Fig. 1) in some clean
water and make a smear across a clean
slide. Use your tweezers (F, Fig. 1) to
place a portion of an insect—a wing, a
leg or an antenna—on the slide. Attach a
cover slip (Q, Fig. 1) over the specimen
and place the slide on the microscope
stage.
Obtain a piece of hair from your head and
place it on a wet slide. Try this again with
more than one type of hair (perhaps a
strand of hair from a pet) on a slide and
compare how they differ. Also try a piece
of fern (or other plant) and pollen and
compare them as well.
Fig. 6: Place a cover slip on
the slide.
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