Introduction

Sugar are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. In addition, sugar is a carbohydrate
that provide energy for the body. Sugar can be classified into 3 types and 2 categories;
monosaccharides and disaccharides are simple sugar, and polysaccharides are complex sugar.
Simple sugar is the sugar that composed of one or two sugar molecules such as glucose, fructose
(fruit), and galactose (milk, yogurt, and cheese). It is the short-term energy and easily to be digested
by body. But, complex sugar are the long polymers of monosaccharides such as white bread, and
cakes. It takes a longer time for body to break down the sugar molecules (digestion) than simple
sugar because it has more complex structure. The blood sugar levels will be stabilized by a hormone
called insulin that made by pancreas. Four property of sugar are sweetness, caramelization,
solubility, and crystallization. The sweetness of sugar can be tasting by taste bud on the tongue
inside the mouth. In addition, the factor that affect sensation of sweetness are concentration,
temperature, pH value and other ingredients. Caramelization is the chemical reaction or oxidation
(between sugar and sugar) and non-enzymatic browning reaction. Non-enzymatic browning
reaction is the chemical reaction without the enzyme. The process of caramelization will be
occurring when the sugar was heated. Therefore, the reaction will remove water molecules and
break down the molecules of sugar. The temperature that caramelization reaction occurs depended
by the type of sugar. For instance, the caramelization of sugar will happen around 338 F
(Exploratorium, 2015). It will change the color of sugar from white to brown color and also create
the aroma odor. Solubility of sugar is the ability of sugar that can be dissolve in water. Solubility of
sugar can be divided into two steps. First, saturated solution is the solution that unable to absorb or
dissolve any more solute (sugar) at a given temperature (Petrucci et al., 2014). But supersaturated
solution is the solution that contain more dissolved solute than it would normally hold at that
condition. The last property of sugar is crystallization. Crystallization is the process when the
solution becomes supersaturated solution. After supersaturated solution begin to cool, the solute that
cant be dissolve (cant changing to liquid substance) in the solution will begin to grow as a crystal.

In the experiment, crystallization is one of the process that used to create rock candy (crystal).
The process of crystallization has been created by adding sugar into the water that have been heated
until the water became supersaturated solution. The crystal will start growing on the sugar stick
after the supersaturated solution began cooling down. The molecules of sugar that cant dissolve or
start settle on the bottom of the beaker will attract to the sugar around the stick to create rock candy.
The purpose of this experiment is to understand how to create rock candy (crystal) by using the
property of sugar; solubility and crystallization.

References
Exploratorium. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/caramels-st
ory.html

Petrucci, Harwood, & Herring (2014, January). Types of saturation. Retrieved from https://
chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Equilibria/Solubilty/Types_of_Saturation

Submitted by Phatsakorn Rodphol (field) 1002