Alpha science classroom： Why Does Honey Crystallize?

As the weather starts to warm up, do kids find that sweets suddenly become hard to eat? If you've ever struggled to get honey out of a jar, you know that the food is sometimes liquid and sometimes solid - why is that? Today, in this children's physical science experiments in the alpha science classroom, children will explore the properties of honey to answer this question. Why does honey crystallize? Also, this kid's science experiment activity can be sweet science fun for kids.

Alpha Science Classroom: Why does honey crystallize and are the materials needed for the experiment.

• 5 identical small food jars with lids

• Masking tape to use as labels

• Cotton balls

• Popsicle sticks

• Honey (If possible, buy natural honey from a local farm. Some honey will mix with other substances, which may change the results of your experiment)

• Measuring spoons

• Canola oil

• Water

• Refrigerator

• Timer

• Toothpick

• Digital thermometer

Alpha science classroom: Why Does Honey Crystallize? experiment steps

Step 1: The children add a small amount of cold water to each container. Also, put one teaspoon of water in container #1, two teaspoons in container #2, three teaspoons in container #3, and four teaspoons in container #4. The fifth container will have only honey.

Step 2: The kids add 1 tablespoon of honey to each container. This is the trickiest part because honey does not like to run off the spoon easily! Using a cotton ball to oil the spoon, dip the cotton ball into the oil and gently apply it to the spoon. Next, fill the spoon with honey. Finally, push the honey off the spoon and into the container. If you need to scrape it off the spoon, use a popsicle stick so you don't feel the urge to eat the experiment

Step 3: Children use the popsicle sticks to gently mix the honey and water together in each bottle. Build a hypothesis, your best guess of what is going to happen. When you put your containers in the freezer, which one do you think will crystallize the fastest? Why?

Step 4: Children create a chart to track their findings. The chart will have five rows. On the left side of each row, place the number of the jar. Start with jar 1 at the top and work your way to jar 5 at the bottom. at the top of the chart, place the times. The first time is 2 minutes, the second is 4 minutes, and so on. When you first see the crystals forming, you will place an X under the time. on the side of the chart, create an area for recording. Here you will note the temperature at which each jar of honey began to crystallize.

Step 5: Children place all jars in the refrigerator and set a timer. 2 minutes later, look at the jars and check them for signs of crystallization. The honey may look rough or cloudy. Keep an eye on the jars, but try not to handle them as the heat from your hands will change the way the honey crystallizes.

Step 6: Children continue to check the jars every 2 minutes. If you see crystals forming, place a thermometer in the honey and record the temperature on a chart.

Alpha science classroom: Why Does Honey Crystallize?Scientific Principles

When we think of crystals, we usually think of precious jewels - but the truth is that many things crystallize. In fact, salt and sugar are both crystals.

When you stir salt into water, it looks like it disappears, but in reality, it's still there; it's just dissolved in the water. Let that water dry and the salt crystals will be left behind. Just like saltwater, honey is a solution, which means that the pieces of sugar are distributed in the liquid. When honey crystallizes, the honey molecules scattered throughout the liquid come together to form solid crystals. The more solutes dissolved in the solution, the faster the solution will crystallize as it cools. Mixing more water into the solution will cause it to crystallize more slowly.

The amount of heat also changes the rate of crystal formation. Each solution has a temperature at which the solids will diffuse through the liquid. In the case of honey, this is approximately room temperature.

There is more to honey than just sugar and water! Raw honey contains many different nutrients and may even contain bits of pollen. Some honey is nectar collected by bees from specific flowers, such as alfalfa, while others are a mixture of different nectar sources. Try this experiment again, using honey from different flower nectars. Does the flower make a difference when it comes to the crystallization of honey? Why? Is the nectar from some flowers sweeter than others?

The children found out after the experiment that honey without water will crystallize first, which is because of the sugar, I believe the children found the answer in this physical science experiment for children. Still okay? Want to solve more mysteries in the kitchen, you can pay more attention to us, try more kid's science experiment activities, solve more scientific mysteries, and become the smartest scientists.

alpha science toys also have a children's physical science experiment kit for kids to help them explore the mysteries of physics knowledge and help them grow up to be the Newtons of the future.