The Sweet Chemistry of Sugar

What are the characteristics of sugar crystals?

Sugar is made up of clear, colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water, but the crystals and their solution do not conduct electricity.

Answer:

It is made up of atoms that are held together by covalent bonds.

Sugar, in its crystalline form, exhibits clear, colorless crystals that can easily dissolve in water. Despite this solubility, sugar crystals and their solutions do not conduct electricity. This unique characteristic points to the nature of sugar being a covalent compound.

Covalent bonds are formed through the sharing of electrons between atoms. In the case of sugar, the atoms making up the sugar molecules are held together by covalent bonds. This type of bond does not produce ions, which are necessary for the conductivity of electricity.

Therefore, the absence of electrical conductivity in sugar solutions indicates the presence of covalent bonds, as opposed to ionic or metallic bonds. This chemical makeup of sugar crystals explains why sugar solutions do not conduct electricity, despite being able to dissolve in water.