Sugar is a common product in the daily diet. According to statistics, its consumption is constantly increasing. There are 60 kilograms per person per year. There is a lot of information about the benefits and harms of sugar. But to understand it, you need to know about the properties of sugar, its use in solid and molten form.
History reference
Many researchers consider the homeland of sugar mysterious India. It was from there that the name came, which means “grain of sand” in translation. Even the ancient Romans appreciated sugar. The product was in great demand. Brown sugar was brought from India. Sugarcane was used for its manufacture. Sale and purchase of the product was carried out with the help of an intermediary, which was Egypt.
Sugar in Russia was the first to be tasted by people of the upper class. He came to our country in the 11-12th century. The first “sugar chamber” was opened by Tsar Peter Alekseevich in the 18th century. Raw materials for its production were then brought from abroad. And only in 1809 the product began to be made from domestic raw materials, using beets instead of reeds.
Chemical properties
Sugar is the household name for sucrose, which is part of the group of carbohydrates that give the body energy. She is part of the disaccharide group. When exposed to its own enzyme or acid, it decomposes into glucose and fructose. Sucrose is rich in berries, fruits of fruits and vegetables. Two states are characteristic of it: crystalline (more stable) and amorphous. The chemical properties of sugar are as follows:
- it is an essential disaccharide;
- if you heat it with a solution of ammonia, it will not produce an effect called the “silver mirror”;
- if copper hydroxide is added to sucrose and heated, then the red color of copper oxide does not appear;
- if you add a few drops of sulfuric acid to a solution of sucrose and neutralize it with alkali, and then heat it with copper hydroxide, you get a red precipitate.
What is melting?
This is a process in which a solid goes into a liquid state. If the compound is heated, its temperature will increase, and the particles will begin to move faster. As a result, the internal energy of the body increases. When the melting point of sugar and other substances coincides with their temperature when heated, the crystal lattice is destroyed. This means that the bonds between the particles are reduced, because of this the energy of interaction between them increases.
A substance in molten form has more internal energy. A small part of the heat of fusion is spent on work associated with a change in body volume, which increases in crystalline bodies by about 6%. When melting crystals, their temperature remains constant.
Physical properties
Sucrose is highly soluble in water. If its temperature rises, then solubility increases. Getting into ethyl alcohol, it does not change its state. But in ethanol, the substance dissolves quickly, but not in methanol. The properties of sugar and salt are different. But both substances have the ability to dissolve in water.
The melting point of sugar is 160 degrees. When it decreases, sucrose decomposes. Caramel forms, which is a complex substance that has a bitter taste and a brown color. The melting point of sugar and other substances is an important physical quantity. As a rule, it is dissolved for the preparation of sweet desserts.
Composition and types of sugar
A sweet substance in the carbohydrate group contains water in a small amount. It also includes part of the minerals: calcium, potassium, iron, and B vitamins. Sugar is a very high-calorie product. In 100 grams - 387 units. There are many varieties of it:
- Reed. It is made from sugar cane.
- Beetroot. Beets are used for cooking.
- Maple. It is made from sugar maple juice growing in Canada.
- Grape The raw material is condensed grape juice.
- Sorghum. To produce sugar, the sorghum cereal is specially processed.
- Palm (jagre). By production, palm juice is used.
Sugar of any name can be refined (purified from impurities) and unrefined. It is used in the daily diet, cooking, food industry, where the melting point of sugar is of great importance. This property is used in the production of many types of products.
The effect of sucrose on the body
A sweet substance activates the blood flow of the spinal cord and brain. It is impossible to completely refuse sugar; sclerotic changes may occur. Scientists have noticed that in people who use sugar, plaques on the walls of blood vessels are formed much less frequently. This means that thrombosis may occur less likely. For lovers of sweets, joints are less likely to be damaged by arthritis. Sugar has a beneficial effect on the liver and spleen.
With sucrose deficiency, a person feels a general malaise, apathy, irritability, depression may occur. But its high content is dangerous by the occurrence of candidiasis, periodontal disease, inflammation of the oral cavity, itching of the genitals, excess weight.
Nutrition Facts of Sugar
It is quickly absorbed by the body, restores strength. However, with excessive consumption, diseases such as caries, diabetes, obesity can appear. Therefore, there are acceptable standards for the consumption of a sweet product, which must be adhered to. For an adult, 80 grams is enough per day.
Sugar is an important product for the diet, as half of the energy that a person spends is replaced by carbohydrates. One third of them are sugar. This is a pleasant sweet product, the physiological value of which is huge. It excites the nervous system, due to which vision and hearing are aggravated, nourishes the gray matter of the brain, forms protein-carbon compounds, glycogens, and fats.
What is salt?
They are complex substances. Acid residues and metal atoms participate in their formation. Salts are ionic compounds. This is a substitution product of hydrogen atoms that make up the acid, metal. Salts are:
- Medium, when all hydrogen atoms are replaced by a metal. These salts undergo thermal decomposition, hydrolysis. They enter into reactions of an exchange and redox nature.
- Sour - not all hydrogen atoms in the acid are replaced by a metal. During thermal decomposition and interaction with alkali, middle salts are formed.
- Double - the substitution of hydrogen atoms is carried out by two different metals. Interact with alkaline solutions.
- The main ones are when incomplete or partial substitution by acid residues of hydroxyl groups occurs. They undergo thermal decomposition, when interacting with acid form medium salts.
Depending on the properties of the cations and anions that make up the substances, the chemical properties of sugar and salt are determined. Some of them decompose upon calcination, and when interacting with acid form new salts and acids. In addition, they carry out chemical reactions with bases, metals and with each other.