Sunday, August 9, 2015

Susan likes a lot of sugar in her tea. She cannot decide whether to order a cup of hot tea or an iced tea. Why should she order hot tea?

Susan should order hot teaif she likes a lot of sugar in her tea. The reason is the increase in solubility with an increase in temperature. When we increase the temperature of a solution, the kinetic energy of the particles increase and they move at higher speeds. Due to this, the chances of collisions between the solvent and solute molecules increase and we observe a higher solubility of the solute in the solvent as...

Susan should order hot tea if she likes a lot of sugar in her tea. The reason is the increase in solubility with an increase in temperature. When we increase the temperature of a solution, the kinetic energy of the particles increase and they move at higher speeds. Due to this, the chances of collisions between the solvent and solute molecules increase and we observe a higher solubility of the solute in the solvent as the bonds of the solute are more easily broken.


If Susan orders the iced tea, the lower temperature would mean that only a certain small quantity of sugar can be dissolved into it. On the other hand, hot tea, due to its higher temperature, will be able to dissolve more sugar and hence would be more to the liking of Susan.


One can see this at home easily. Try mixing sugar in tap water till no more can be dissolved (you will be able to see undissolved sugar in the water). Now, boil the water and add more sugar. You can see that hot or boiling water can dissolve much more sugar than water at room temperature or cold water.


Hope this helps. 

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