Why is sugar sticky

Yes, we did come across this information. What is confusing though, is why does the kid stick longer with juice than with the water? The same things seem to be happening, so what part is making the difference that makes the lid stick to the juice longer than the water? When the juice dries, the water evaporate away and leaves the sugars and other parts that makes juice taste like juice.

Sugar is hydrophilic and will readily absorb moisture from the air. So it's going to be slightly damp and sticky after it dries. If sugar is sticky because of the bonds in the molecules and juice has sugar which water doesn't , then I'd say the answer to your question is the sugar content in the juice.

If you want to ry an experiment, add sugar to water and see if sugar water is as sticky and behaves the same way as juice does. I will try that experiment for sure. Jump to. Board index. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission is strictly prohibited. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Fair Use. Privacy Policy. JUN 17, JUL 08, OCT 08, In , scientists observed something incredible: they had measured a gamma-ray burst from a distant galaxy called GNz Written By: Hannah Daniel.

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To learn more, click here. Upcoming Webinars. NOV 15, NOV 16, NOV 17, Upcoming Virtual Events. DEC 01, DEC 07, That's a whole lot! So in a concentrated solution of sucrose, you'll get a lot of H-bonding which acts to link the fairly small sucrose molecules into chains. In fact, one experiment you can do is to heat a concentrated solution of sugar and see if you can make strings or threads of it by putting a spoon into it and pulling it quickly out.

Cotton candy is popular at fairs in the USA and is based on this although has been improved by trial and error changes to the process and recipe. Plastics are polymers which exist as chains. Most glues also are polymers. Our skin is composed of polymers. As a matter of fact our skin is composed of polar polymers. And sugar, also being polar, will tend to "stick" to our skin.

But not only are they polar, both are capable of H-bonding. So, you have two different chemical phenomena: concentrated sugar solutions have a cohesive strength it sticks together and it has an adhesive strength to polar surfaces.

These are what make it sticky. One thing I've not explained is what I mean by "polar". It has to do with electric charge. In the context of molecules, when the negative charge density is centered at the same point as the positive charge density, a molecule is nonpolar. When the centers don't coincide, the molecule is polar or if the positive charge is on an entirely different atom than the negative charge AND its a whole number, then we'd call that an ionic molecule In other words, polar molecules are molecules which have fractional separation of negative and positive charges.

It is a bit more complicated than that: In CO 2 there is more negative charge "on" the O atoms than on the central C atom. But because the molecule is linear the 3 atoms form a straight line in space the center of negative charge is on the central C atom, despite its being slightly positively charged.

NO 2 is a slightly 'bent' molecule, it's not straight so although the negative charge on both O atoms is equal, they don't "cancel out" and the molecule is polar. So, we have a "spectrum" of polarity from something like H 2 which is non-polar and no charge separation to CO 2 which is also non-polar but with charge separation to NO 2 which with a central bond angle of Polar molecules will interact more with other polar molecules than they will with non-polar molecules everything else being equal.

Nonpolar molecules will interact with other non-polar molecules only slightly due to "dipole-dipole interactions". They'd interact more with polar molecules due to "induced dipole interactions" and once you get to polar-polar molecular interactions, you're talking significant effects on some properties. H-bonding is a very strong type of polar-polar interaction; and it is very specific to the H atom. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why is sugar syrup so sticky? Ask Question. Asked 5 years ago. Active 10 months ago. Viewed 4k times. Improve this question. Vidyanshu Mishra Vidyanshu Mishra 1, 1 1 gold badge 13 13 silver badges 34 34 bronze badges. It happens a lot for non polar solutes sugar in polar solvents water.

Normally it arises out of something called Hydrogen bonding.