Fun Science Activities to Do with Kids in The Summer (Part 7)
Check out the first six parts of this series, or below to make some delicious rock candy!
Yum! I love rock candy! You know who else loves rock candy? All kids everywhere, or at least all kids that I have met. Here is my own favorite recipe for rock candy:
1. Combine 2 cups of sugar, ½ cup of corn syrup, and ½ cup of water into a pot.
2. Place the pot on a burner on a low flame, and heat it until the sugar is fully dissolved.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and add the flavoring and food coloring of your choice.
4. Pour half of this mixture into an aluminum tray and let it cool. As it cools, the mixture will naturally harden. Make sure to save the other half of the mixture for step #6.
5. Once the solution in the tray has hardened, carefully smash the hardened rock candy into pieces using a hammer.
6. Dip a wooden skewer into the remaining half of the solution from step #4.
7. Dip the rolled skewer into the broken crystals and let dry.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the rock candy on the stick is at the desired size.
9. Eat and enjoy your delicious homemade candy!
How does this work? Well, science of course! Here you are essentially making a super-saturated solution of sugar in the first two steps, by heating a solution until the sugar dissolves, and then cooling it to room temperature and keeping the sugar in solution while it cools. This supersaturated solution makes great crystals, because of the high sugar content. The rest of the procedure is basically just a way to form the delicious candies on sticks so that you can eat them and enjoy.
Other variations on rock candy recipes also exist. Check out this: https://www.thespruce.com/rock-candy-521016, this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/24056/rock-candy/, or this:http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/rock-candy.
Did you try any of these recipes? Let us know how your rock candy tastes in the comments below!