Yichen Sun

Per. 6
9/10/13


http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/02/25/sulfuric-acid-and-sugar-reaction.htm
One of the most spectacular chemistry demonstrations is also one of the simplest. It's the
dehydration of sugar (sucrose) with sulfuric acid. Basically, all you do to perform this
demonstration is put ordinary table sugar in a glass beaker and stir in some concentrated sulfuric
acid (you can dampen the sugar with a small volume of water before adding the sulfuric acid).
The sulfuric acid removes water from the sugar in a highly exothermic reaction, releasing heat,
steam, and sulfur oxide fumes. Aside from the sulfurous odor, the reaction smells a lot like
caramel. The white sugar turns into a black carbonized tube that pushes itself out of the beaker.
Here's a nice youtube video for you, if you'd like to see what to expect.

What Happens
Sugar is a carbohydrate, so when you remove the water from the molecule, you're basically left
with elemental carbon. The dehydration reaction is a type of elimination reaction.

C
12
H
22
O
11
(sugar) + H
2
SO
4
(sulfuric acid) 12 C (carbon) + 11 H
2
O (water) + mixture water
and acid

Although the sugar is dehydrated, the water isn't 'lost' in the reaction. Some of it remains as a
liquid in the acid. Since the reaction is exothermic, much of the water is boiled off as steam.

Safety Precautions
If you do this demonstration, use proper safety precautions. Whenever you deal with
concentrated sulfuric acid, you should wear gloves, eye protection, and a lab coat. After the
beaker has cooled, you can pull out the carbon and remove the residue from the glassware with
acetone. It's preferable to perform the demonstration inside of a fume hood.


Sugar is dehydrated:
C
12
H
22
O
11
= 12 C (graphite) + 11 H
2
O ( l )
Sulfuric acid is hydrated:
H
2
SO
4
.
n H
2
O + m H
2
O = H
2
SO
4

.
n
1
H
2
O + heat
(n = .11 moles, m = 11 X 2.0 moles of sucrose = 2.2 moles, and n
1
= 2.3 moles.)
Yichen Sun
Per. 6
9/10/13


When acid is added to the sugar, the sugar turns black, expands and bubbles while letting off a
great deal of steam; however, if both the sugar and acid were at room temperature, where did all
of this newfound heat come from? The answer is all in the chemistry of the situation.
The reaction in the video is called an exothermic (from Latin, ex meaning out, and thermein to
heat) reaction. More precisely it is a dehydration reaction (a class of elimination reactions). The
formula here is:
C
12
H
22
O
11
(Sugar) + H
2
SO
4
(Sulfuric Acid) 12C (Graphite) + 11H
2
O (Water) + A mix of
water and acid
http://www.madphysics.com/exp/dehydrating_sugar_with_acid.htm
As you can see, 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 hydrateddehydration reaction
is a bit of a misnomer since even though the sugar is dehydrated, that water is gained by the
acid and doesnt just disappear). This water transfer is what creates the heat in the reaction. 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 doesnt go into making bonds, gives off heat energy.
In this reaction when hydrogen and oxygen are taken away from sugar, all we have left is carbon
(the black stuff). The water is separated out and escapes mostly as vapor, and like most reactions,
not everything is able to react, so we often have unreacted acid evaporating with the water (and
making this a very dangerous experiment, have a teacher show you if you are curious, or just
enjoy the video).
This lab is often demonstrated in school because it is a good introduction to many general
chemistry topics including bond energies, acids, and more.