Salt sculpture in the Bernoulliborg

During the final of the ‘grow a salt crystal’ competition for schools on 7 November, a ‘salt sculpture’ was created in the hall of the Bernoulliborg building on the Zernike Campus of the University of Groningen. For this ‘mega salt-crystal experiment’ a tableau consisting of a shop dummy standing at a table laid with items such as plates and glasses were drenched in a saturated salt solution. The growth of salt crystals on all these objects could be viewed through a webcam in the days following the final.

Two weeks after the start of the experiment Science LinX went to have a look at the state of play and returned with a series of photos. The man behind the competition and the experiment, Theo Jurriens of Salt Express fame, previously did a similar experiment for the German Pro Sieben TV station.

Salt container and salt crystals

Two glasses covered with salt crystals. The pipe cleaners absorb the salt solution and as the water evaporates crystals form

A plateful of salt crystals

Salty toys

A bicycle covered in salt crystals

The fifth annual salt crystal competition was organized by the Salt Express, an initiative of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Groningen. Its sponsors are AkzoNobel and two northern newspapers, Dagblad van het Noorden and Leeuwarder Courant.

Higher resolution photos can be found on the Science LinX Flickr photostream.