Water Gel Spheres

Place these hard crystals in water and they expand about 300 times, producing gel-like spheres. The Large size start with a diameter of about 3.0 mm and end with a diameter of about 20.0 mm. Great for starting seeds and growing plants so that the roots can be seen! Can be colored using food coloring. The polymer is similar to our super-absorbent, polyacrylamide polymer and can be dried and reused. Now available in three sizes. Available from Educational Innovations, Inc. at http://www.teachersource.com/Chemistry/HydrophilicHydrophobicPolymers/Growing...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• education
• science
• physics
• chemistry
• expanding spheres
• sodium polyacrylamide
• orbeez
• plant balls
• growing spheres

[TheLuisstriker]

its been 6 hours and there not as big as your. could it be because the water was cold?

please answers and please tell me other things not to do in the proces :)

[EducateInnovate]

@TheLuisstriker It can take longer than 6 hours. To expand the spheres for this video, I left them in water overnight.

[Keweyeverride]

Do they shrink when out of water

[EducateInnovate]

@Keweyeverride Yes, they do. If you use distilled water, you can expand them and shrink them back again and again. Otherwise, they do start to break down.

[thatguru877]

@EducateInnovate Thank you for your answers you've been very helpful.

[EducateInnovate]

@thatguru877 The material they are made of will start to break down over time, so you will need to add fresh spheres after a while. I know that some related compounds are biodegradable, including the polymer that is used in most baby diapers as a liquid absorber, known as sodium polyacrylate.

[thatguru877]

@EducateInnovate What about sustaining a plant for say 3 months? I would of course have to change them correct?

[EducateInnovate]

@thatguru877 We have used these to sprout seeds and bulbs. I would imagine that if you add nutrients, you could keep plants going for a while in them.

[thatguru877]

@EducateInnovate Well im a hydroponic indoor gardener could I just use my normal hydro nutes?

[EducateInnovate]

@thatguru877 Yes, but it works better to mix them into soil, since they don't have the nutrients that soil has. Mixing them into soil helps regulate the moisture content, so you can't over water your plants.