Prior Knowlege Question:

How to Use Boiling Water to Kill Ants · ExtermPROThe Benefits and Risks of Drinking Cold Water (Ice Water)

Suppose you added a spoonful of sugar to hot water and another to ice-cold water. Which type of water will cause the sugar to dissolve more quickly?

hot water
ice-cold water

Hot water will cause the sugar to dissolve more quickly.

Hot water will cause the sugar to dissolve more quickly compared to ice-cold water. The reason behind this is that the particles in hot water have higher kinetic energy, meaning they move faster and collide with the sugar particles more frequently. This increased collision rate helps to break down the bonds between the sugar particles and the sugar dissolves faster. In contrast, the particles in ice-cold water have lower kinetic energy and move slower, resulting in fewer collisions between the water and sugar particles and a slower dissolution process.

To determine which type of water, hot or ice-cold, will cause the sugar to dissolve more quickly, we can rely on our prior knowledge of the solubility of substances in different temperatures of water.

When a solid substance, such as sugar, is added to a liquid, it dissolves by breaking down and dispersing evenly throughout the liquid. The rate of dissolution can be influenced by factors such as temperature, stirring, and surface area.

In general, increasing the temperature of the solvent, in this case, water, increases the rate of dissolution. This is because higher temperatures provide more energy to the water molecules, causing them to move faster and collide with the sugar particles with greater force. This increased energy facilitates the breaking down of the sugar particles and allows them to mix with the water more readily.

On the other hand, colder temperatures decrease the energy of the water molecules, reducing their ability to interact with and break down the sugar particles. As a result, the rate of dissolution is slower in ice-cold water compared to hot water.

Therefore, in the scenario you provided, the sugar will dissolve more quickly in hot water than in ice-cold water.