Question

Refined, white table sugar is sucrose that has been "recrystallized." using methods you used in this experiment, describe how you would purify crude sugar by recrystallization.

Answer 1

First, obtain an ample amount of water, two clean containers, a stirring rod and a porous material for filtering. Next, place the water in the first container and heat the water until it boils. Then add the crude sugar to the boiling water and remove the mixture from heat. While still hot, pour the mixture through the filter into the second container, to remove sediments. Allow the filtered mixture to cool, and sugar crystals will form in the container. The recrystallization will occur more quickly if you add a seeding agent, like a small amount of refined sugar, to the cool mixture, but it is not necessary.