Growing A Sour Citric Acid Crystal

Here’s how to grow large, transparent single crystals from citric acid.

Citric acid, the same stuff that makes lemons sour, can form beautiful, clear crystals with just a bit of patience.

---

MATERIALS

I bought my materials in Malaysia, but the items below are similar ones available on Amazon — they work just as well if you’d like to try this experiment yourself.

• Citric acid powder: https://amzn.to/4p3u5xx
• 3000 mL beaker: https://amzn.to/43q3dzy
• Electric burner: https://amzn.to/47MeHi8
• Nylon fishing line (clear, 0.14 mm): https://amzn.to/3XlgZjo
• Plastic petri dish (90 × 15 mm): https://amzn.to/43YeDdX
• Precision tweezers: https://amzn.to/47AS0yB
• Digital scale: https://amzn.to/4olYTsy

These are Amazon affiliate links — I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you.

Thank you for supporting this channel!

---

VIDEO CHAPTERS

00:00 Buying the citric acid
00:11 Preparing the solution
00:42 Growing seed crystals
01:14 Seed crystals have formed
01:59 Hanging the seed crystal
02:26 Checking on the crystal
03:30 Moving to a new beaker
05:01 Checking the crystal again
06:16 Harvesting the crystal
07:05 weighing the crystal
07:25 Final result

---

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.