Soluble Material
If your specimen is soluble, then you're in the right place! Here’s how to best make a slide out of it. This tutorial will teach you how to make sure that your specimen is in its natural form. This is especially useful for salts- where the crystals are usually broken off before it could fully develop.
Step One
Place the specimen on a clean slide like you would anything else
Step Two
Carefully place a couple drops of water onto the specimen (ideally with a pipette).
Step Three
Mix the specimen with the water so that they mix together. You may need to add a little more water if there’s too much of the specimen.
Step Four
Wait for the water to evaporate. This will probably take about a day next to a window. When the water evaporates, the specimen will hopefully form a crystal.
Step Five
Complete the slide like any other slide, although you may want to add a tape barrier to ensure that the crystal isn’t crushed. To learn how to make a tape barrier, click here.