Rock Candy

Oh, hey, Squeaks! I'm about ready to show off my new hobby! I've been practicing candy making, and it involves a lot of chemistry. Chemistry is a type of science where you can observe different materials and figure out how they can change. Candy! I think you'really gonna So let's make some rock candy! You can try this project at home, too! To make rock candy, we need a jar or glass, a spoon, a clean wooden chopstick, a clothes pin, one cup or about 240 ml of water, three cups or 600 grams of sugar, and a pot. You'll also need a grown-up helper before starting this project, since you'll need to use the stove. Can I be your grown-up helper for today's Project Squeaks? Awesome! Let's get started! First, we're going to heat up one cup of water in this pot on our hot plate. You can use the stove. Once it starts boiling and bubbling, it's ready for the next step. We'll pour in some of our sugar a little bit at a time, and use the spoon to stir the sugar in. If you look closely at our sugar, you'll notice that it's a pile of crystals! Crystals are kind of see-through, are hard When you pour the sugar into the hot water, the water pulls those sugar crystals apart into smaller and smaller pieces. Until they're so tiny, you can't even see the sugar anymore! And when you can't see it anymore, we say that the sugar has dissolved. Now, we'll keep adding sugar to the boiling water and keep stirring, until no more sugar will dissolve. And now, we'ready for the next step. We're going to let this solution cool down, and then prepare for the rest of our setup. Oh, thank you for asking, Squeaks! A solution is what you get when something Solutions can be made of lots of things, though. For this next part, I'm going to dip my chopsticks in water, and then roll it in a little bit of sugar. Now, I'll hold this chopstick in the jar, so the chopstick is a little ways off the bottom of the glass. And I'll use this clothespin to hold the chopstick in place. Alright? That looks pretty secure. Once the sugar water solution has cooled down to room temperature, have your grown-up helper pour it into the jar, leaving a little room at the top. And now comes the longest step. We wait. You see, water can pull apart sugar crystals better when it's hot. That's why sugar dissolves better in boiling water than it does in cold water. As we keep waiting, our sugar water solution is going to cool down. And eventually, the cold water won't be able to keep the sugar dissolved anymore. And our invisible sugar will reappear. Now, if you remember, our sugar never actually disappeared. The crystals just got so teeny tiny, we couldn't see them anymore. But as our solution gets colder, those little pieces of sugar will grab onto each other again, and grow into bigger crystals. Even bigger than the ones we started with. We call this crystallization. The sugar will start to crystallize on different surfaces, Over time, bigger and bigger sugar crystals will start to grow on the chopstick, and they'll harden into candy. This type of candy is called rock candy because the sugar grows in hard, crunchy, rock- Candy makers are good chemists, but they also have to be patient to make rock candy. We have to wait a week or two for the sugar to crystallize. But when they're done, they'll look I have one for me and one for you, Squeaks. Aww, you're welcome! We can enjoy these, and then if you'd Candy making is a great science project. If you have a grown-up helper and are able to try it out, try writing down your observations. And how many days does it take the sugar to crystallize? And best yet, is the rock candy tasty? Good luck with your observations! And remember, if you'd