Rock Candy Experiment

Create your own rocky candy from sugar and learn the chemistry of crystallization of sugar molecules!

Topics: Crystallization, Supersaturation

Difficulty: Easy but takes time

Materials:

• Boiling Water

• Bowl

• Sugar

• Food coloring

Procedure:

1. Add Sugar to boiling water and stir till the solution is supersaturated. This will happen when the sugar stops dissolving

2. Pour part of the solution into a dish and let it cool

3. Take a stick with a bit of sugar and stick inside the bowl

4. You will see crystals form on the stick

How It Works:

Solubility of a solution increases with temperature, so more sugar dissolves in the boiling water. Now when the solution cools down, the sugar gets precipitated out as there is no room for the sugar in the water, so when you dip the stick with the sugar on it, it attracts the sugar from the oversaturated water and attaches onto the stick. This sugar that is precipitated out forms crystals.