I first received the idea to do this experiment when I was reading about the mineral chrysoprase. I learned that chrysoprase is actually turned green by nickel ions that are present in it. I remember from chemistry class that an ion is an atom that has gained or lost an electron. Without an intense in-depth discussion on the science involved here I will say that some compounds are divided into the ions that make them up when they are dissolved. Now, a friend of mine and I have both done some experiments with citric acid and I have learned that a high concentration of the stuff can dissolve the copper-nickel coating off of a coin such as a dime or quarter. With this knowledge I knew that the solution (which had turned green) probably contained some copper and nickel ions. I then set to work to try to figure out whether or not I could grow crystals in a solution of nickel ions and see the crystals appear green.
I started my experiment by dissolving a hearty amount of citric acid granules in water, continually adding more citric acid until the solution became saturated. I then dropped in two American nickels from the 1960s (those from that era have more nickel content in them than today’s do) and allowed this to sit for a while. After a few weeks or so the solution began to get a greenish tinge about it. I could have introduced something like salt to the mix to try to get some crystals growing at that point, but I wanted to see if the solution would become any greener.
To make a long story short I will say that I let the solution sit for too long and the citric acid re-crystallized before I could try to grow anything else in the solution. However, the citric acid crystals, which are usually white or colorless, do appear to be green! Success! My first experiment with God’s mineral-dye has worked, now all that I might have to do is dissolve those crystals into some water and attempt to grow some other kind of crystals in it.
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