Explain how you would prepare a saturated aqueous solution of table sugar.
Heat the solution to near its boiling point. With stirring, add table sugar to water. Keep adding sugar until no more dissolves. Allow the solution to cool.
With stirring, add table sugar to water. Keep adding sugar until no more dissolves.
That sounds as if you have written instructions for two preps; i.e., one at boiling T for water and the other at room T. Either should be adequate. With the first one, you will get crystallization when the solution cools.
To prepare a saturated aqueous solution of table sugar, you would follow these steps:
1. Start with a clean, heat-resistant container that can hold more solution than you need. Glass or laboratory-grade plastic containers are commonly used.
2. Measure out the desired amount of purified or distilled water. The amount of water depends on how much solution you want to prepare.
3. Start heating the water in a heating device, such as a hot plate or stove, until it reaches near its boiling point. This step helps to increase the solubility of the sugar in the water.
4. While heating the water, add table sugar (sucrose) to the container gradually. Begin with a small amount and stir it into the water until it fully dissolves. Continuously stir the mixture to help the sugar dissolve.
5. Keep adding more sugar to the mixture, small increments at a time, while stirring continuously. Repeat this process until no more sugar can dissolve in the solution. You will notice that at some point, the sugar will no longer dissolve and instead accumulate at the bottom of the container without disappearing.
6. At this stage, you have a saturated solution, meaning the water has dissolved as much sugar as it can at the given temperature. You can assess the saturation level by observing the undissolved sugar at the bottom of the container.
7. Allow the solution to cool down to room temperature, still with continuous stirring. Cooling the solution slowly promotes the formation of larger, more stable sugar crystals. This process can take some time, so be patient.
8. The solution is now ready and can be stored or used as desired. It should remain saturated as long as the temperature and conditions remain constant.
Remember, saturated solutions are temperature-dependent, meaning that if you increase the temperature, more sugar can dissolve, and if you decrease the temperature, some of the dissolved sugar may precipitate out of the solution.