Angela+and+Jessica

=Dehydrating Sugar=

When you mix __plain sugar__ with __sulfuric acid__, a violent reaction occurs that leaves you with __**graphite and a lot of steam**__.

**Why does steam occur even though the sugar and sulfuric acid are both at room temperature?**
The water and the acid create very strong hydrogen bonds, which in turn give off energy in the form of heat. When bonds break and form energy is often transferred, some bonds are easier to form than others, so often the excess energy that doesn’t go into making bonds, gives off heat energy.

**The reaction is called an exothermic reaction.**
C12H22O11 (Sugar) + H2SO4 (Sulfuric Acid) → 12C (Graphite) + 11H2O (Water) + A mix of water and acid

The reaction is called a **dehydration reaction** because water is lost (by the sugar), and to balance the equation it must be transferred (the acid is hydrated—“dehydration reaction” is a bit of a misnomer since even though the sugar //is// dehydrated, that water is “gained” by the acid and doesn’t just disappear). This water transfer is what creates the heat in the reaction.

In this reaction when hydrogen and oxygen are taken away from sugar, all there is left in the end is carbon. The water is separated out and escapes mostly as vapor, and like most reactions, not everything is able to react, so often the unreacted acid evaporates with the water