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Experiment 626: "Do different forms of sugar and salt react differently when exposed to flame."
by Nathaniel Cutter

How I did it:
I tested rock salt, table salt, raw sugar and brown sugar. Each one I tested by holding a match to a small pile of it, and by holding a spoonful of it in the flame from a stove.

Hypothesis:
I think yes because although the different forms are still the same kind of thing they have had different amounts of processing so have different amounts of chemicals, which might make them burn differently.

Materials:
some rock salt, some table salt, some brown sugar, some raw sugar, some matches, a stove

Procedure:

1. Conduct match tests with
Rock salt
Table salt
Brown sugar
Raw sugar

2. Conduct stove tests with
Rock salt
Table salt
Brown sugar
Raw sugar

Observations:
(See photos and captions)

Conclusion:
My hypothesis was right-they did burn differently.

MATCH TESTS

 

 

Raw sugar

Went darker brown, melted and bubbled where match was

 

Brown sugar

Like raw sugar but more so, kept burning after match went out.

 

Rock salt

Browned slightly, but pretty much no effect.

 

Table salt

Browned around match, much more than rock salt.

 

STOVE TESTS

  

Raw sugar

Melted, bubbled, shot flames around, kept burning after we took it out of the flame, went all black and pretty much stuffed the spoon

  

Brown sugar

The same as raw sugar, less spectacular but we got a really cool photo.

By the time the melted sugar went brown the sugar crystals changed form from solid to liquid and some of the stuff the change left behind was flammable. That caught fire and it burst into flame.

   

Table salt

Popping sound, shot grains around, extra orange flame, more powdery, some black grains but mostly white

 

  

Rock salt

<< Sorry, we forgot to take a photo of the Rock Salt! >>

Popping sound, shot out a few grains, went greyish brown, a couple of grains fused together

Extra Cool Photos





Boring Scientific Junk That Nobody Actually Wants To Read (Additional Research)

Salt is the chemical compound NaCl or sodium chloride. It is found in the sea dissolved into the water, underground in big lumps or layers, and in the remains of old inland seas. Salt is used in lots of foods including popcorn and even ice cream. In the times before freezers and fridges people added salt to meat to stop it from going mouldy. The salt molecule is cube-shaped.

 
Salt Molecule

Sugar is found in sugar beet that is mostly grown in the Eastern parts of England, and sugar cane grown in countries like Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius and Fiji. When sugar has been taken from the juice of the beet or cane plant, a black syrup, called molasses, is left. When white sugar is made, the molasses are all removed, but brown sugars keep different amounts of the stuff. The more molasses in brown sugar, the stickier it is, the darker the color and the sweeter the flavor. This is what makes the sugars different from each other.

 Sugar is added to foods or drinks to make them taste sweeter. As well it is a natural preservative that binds water to prevent the growth of bacteria, so it slows down food going bad, like in jams. Sugar is found in many foods including fruit and vegetables, honey, jam and most soft drinks.