Science of Candy: Rock Candy: What’s Going On? (2024)

FAQs

Science of Candy: Rock Candy: What’s Going On? ›

A supersaturated solution is unstable—it contains more solute (in this case, sugar) than can stay in solution—so as the temperature decreases, the sugar comes out of the solution, forming crystals. The lower the temperature, the more molecules join the sugar crystals, and that is how rock candy is created.

Heating up the solution forces the sucrose molecules to break up and caramelize. But when we do that, the sugar molecules really want to crystallize back into their solid form. Candy-makers use that crystallization process, and some strategic interference, to create the candies that we know and love.

The hypothesis is that if sugar water is left to evaporate, sugar crystals will form on a string or stick, creating a rock candy treat.

Crystallization is a physical change by which one substance in a mixture separates itself from the mixture and forms solid, crystalline particles with other molecules of the same substance. If you've ever seen rock candy, or made it at home, you have seen the result of sugar crystallization.

Pop Rocks^® are sugar candies with tiny pressurized bubbles inside them filled with carbon dioxide gas. When you place Pop Rocks^® in water, the sugar coating dissolves in water, and the gas and pressure are released. This also makes a popping noise, and leaves behind the sugar molecules.

As the sugar and water molecules attract each other, they collide. At higher temperatures, there are more collisions because the molecules are bouncing around more and faster (see: kinetic energy), allowing the candy cane to break apart and dissolve faster.

Gummy bears are made of gelatin, so they do not dissolve in liquid, like many other sugary candies. In this experiment, the gelatin in the gummy bear acts like a cell membrane in living cells. The gummy bears get bigger or smaller after soaking in the liquids because of a process called osmosis.

It's this disorganised structure that makes amorphous solids transparent and brittle. You can simulate creating glass in your kitchen by melting sugar instead of sand. Molten sugar turns into another amorphous solid, called edible glass or candy glass, and has a glassy, translucent appearance.

When you make rock candy, you can see the shape of sugar crystals on a giant scale. The key is giving them lots of time (about 7 days) to grow. As the water evaporates, sugar crystals form on the string or stick, and the shapes that they form reflect the shape of individual sugar crystals.

Once a tiny crystal forms, it serves as a nucleation point. Other sugar molecules then glom on to it and make the crystal bigger. Seed crystals in the rock candy mix serve as this nucleation point, making the rock candy form faster.

What is the solution in rock candy? ›

Sweets like Rock Candy are made through a process called crystallization. Sugar crystals form when you create a supersaturated solution of sugar and water — that just means there's more sugar than can be dissolved in the boiling water — and let it cool.

A supersaturated solution is unstable—it contains more solute (in this case, sugar) than can stay in solution—so as the temperature decreases, the sugar comes out of the solution, forming crystals. The lower the temperature, the more molecules join the sugar crystals, and that is how rock candy is created.

To make candy, sugar is first heated to a high temperature so that it melts . The scalding solution is then then cooled into a solution that is supersaturated. The supersaturation is considered unstable, forcing the sugar molecules to crystallize into a solid.

This activity helps students visualize how a supersaturated solution grows the extra-large crystals of sucrose needed to make rock candy. Table sugar (sucrose) and water are the only required ingredients. Food coloring and flavoring are optional ingredients to enhance the taste of the candy.

The dyes used to make colored candy can be made up of several colors. These dyes are composed of different compounds that separate during chromatography. The water rising up the filter paper caused the compounds in the candy to spread out in a spectrum.

Description. Sugar glass is made by dissolving sugar in water and heating it to at least the "hard crack" stage (approx. 150 °C / 300 °F) in the candy making process. Glucose or corn syrup is used to prevent the sugar from recrystallizing and becoming opaque, by disrupting the orderly arrangement of the molecules.

The coloured sugar that is coating the skittles DISSOLVES in to the water and spreads out due to a process called DIFFUSION. The sugar will always move from the area where there is lots of sugar (next to the skittle) to a place where there is less, so you see the coloured sugar move across the plate.

The Science Of Dissolving Candy Corn

Both water and sugar are polar molecules. When the candy corn is added to the water, the water molecules surround the candy molecules and pull them away from each other, making the candy disappear into the water.