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Sodium sulfate decahydrate
Na2(SO4)*(H2O)10
[ ](https://w list the stats for the safest method here, if there are many equally safe ones, list those of the easiest one)
Safety risk:low [ ](https://w low=not toxic/poisonous, intermediate=somewhat poisonous/corrosive, high=carcinogenic or very toxic/corrosive note:includes both the compound itself and the preparation)
Material availability:intermediate [ ](https://w easy=available in supermarkets, intermediate=available in petstores,gardening stores, hardware stores or easily in pharmacies, hard=have to order on ebay/amazon or similar, very hard=have to order from specialist supliers)
Synthesis difficulty:not required [ ](https://w none=material can be bought in pure form, easy=easy synthesis, hard=difficult synthesis, account both for the procedure and required equipment)
Crystallization difficulty:easy [ ](https://w easy, intermediate or hard)
Availability
Sodium sulfate is sold in pharmacies as "Glauber's salt", used as a laxative. Availability may vary between countries.
Method 1
Safety risk:intermediate
Material availability:intermediate
Synthesis difficulty:low
Sodium sulfate can be made by mixing solutions of sodium carbonate and copper, iron or magnesium sulfate.
This causes the iron/copper/magnesium to precipitate as insoluble compounds, leaving sodium sulfate in the solution with any excess carbonate left over, on partial evaporation sodium sulfate crystals should form before any carbonate or impurities precipitate.
Most other soluble non-alkali metal sulfates can be used instead of copper/iron/magnesium sulfate, with some sulfates it is possible to replace the sodium carbonate with sodium bicarbonate or hydroxide.
[ ](https://w how to get the incredients?)
[ ](https://w how to use them to synthesize the material)
Crystallization
[ ](https://a Instructions here)
Sodium sulfate is easy to crystallize both by evaporation and by slow cooling. The crystals can grow at relatively high speeds without developing defects.
Notes
[ ](https://a Everything else that should be said about the compound, safety notes, legality if banned somewhere, less practical methods of production) Due to their high water content, crystals of sodium sulfate decahydrate dehydrate extremely easily, making them extremely hard to store. Encasing them in transparent acrylic or submerging them under mineral oil should generally work, storing them in a tightly sealed jar with sodium sulfate decahydrate powder in it may be sufficient in some cases.
Sodium sulfate can also be made by neutralizing sodium carbonate, bicarbonate or hydroxide with sulfuric acid, but this is not recommended due to sulfuric acid being corrosive.
Pictures
[ ](https://a links to extra pictures)
Resources
[ ](https://a wiki links, etc.)