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Comparing Solubility of Salt and Sugar

Mar 11, 2025

Solubility Experiment Overview

Introduction

  • Presenter: Haley
  • Experiment: Comparing solubility of table salt (sodium chloride) and table sugar (sucrose).
  • Key Concept: Solubility - the rate at which a substance dissolves.

Definitions

  • Solute: Substance that gets dissolved (in this case, sugar and salt).
  • Solvent: Substance that does the dissolving (in this case, water).
  • Ksp: Solubility Product Constant, a measure of solubility.

Safety Precautions

  • Hair tied back, sleeves rolled up, goggles on.

Experiment Setup

  • Materials:
    • 4 cups of water (2 at room temperature, 2 heated)
    • Mixing spoons (one for salt, one for sugar)
    • Bowls for salt and sugar

Experiment Steps

  1. Room Temperature Water:

    • Start with salt:
      • Add 1 teaspoon of salt, mix until dissolved.
      • Observe: Solution becomes cloudy, no floaters at the bottom = saturated solution.
      • Add more teaspoons until reaching super saturated state.
    • Record: At 3 teaspoons, some salt remains undissolved.
  2. Heated Water:

    • Repeat with heated water:
      • Add 1 teaspoon of salt, dissolves quickly without much mixing.
      • Continue adding teaspoons until super saturated state.
      • Result: More salt dissolves than in room temperature due to increased solubility from heat.
  3. Sugar in Room Temperature Water:

    • Add 1 teaspoon of sugar:
      • Observations: Sugar dissolves slower than salt, remains cloudy, some particles at the bottom.
      • Add more teaspoons until super saturated.
    • Result: Sugar does not dissolve as well as salt.
  4. Sugar in Heated Water:

    • Add 1 teaspoon of sugar:
      • Dissolves better than in room temperature water but not as well as salt.
      • Continue adding teaspoons; observe clarity as it dissolves.
    • Record: Third teaspoon still dissolved, but reaching saturation point.

Conclusion

  • Comparison:
    • Salt: Dissolves more quickly and effectively than sugar in both room temperature and heated water.
    • Sugar's solubility improves with heat but remains less than that of salt.
  • Final Observations: Differences in solubility explained by differing Ksp values of salt and sugar.