A small child watches you as you stir a spoonful of sugar into a glass of clear lemon-flavored drink. The child believes the sugar went away because it seemed to disappear. How would you explain to the child what happened to the sugar, and how could you show her that you can get the sugar back?

Question

Chemistry

Maritza Spence

20 September, 00:21

A small child watches you as you stir a spoonful of sugar into a glass of clear lemon-flavored drink. The child believes the sugar went away because it seemed to disappear. How would you explain to the child what happened to the sugar, and how could you show her that you can get the sugar back?

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Yosef Haley · Answer 1

First, you need to explain to the child why the sugar seemed to disappear when you stir it into a glass of clear lemon-flavored drink. When you stir a spoonful of sugar into the glass, you are forming a solution. This type of liquid solution is composed of a solid solute, which is the sugar, and a liquid solvent, which is clear lemon-flavored drink. As the sugar molecules spread evenly throughout the water, the sugar dissolves.

In order for the sugar to get back again, you need to evaporate the clear lemon-flavored drink, over a low heat and wait until a white residue appears. That residue is the sugar.