Flexi Says: Sugar is more soluble in water than salt. In an ionic compound such as table salt, the ions are held together by strong electrostatic forces of attraction. However, when water dissolves sugar, it separates the individual sugar molecules by disrupting the relatively weak intermolecular forces of attraction between the sugar molecules. Also, the size of the sugar molecule is greater than that of the salt molecule. Thus a single sugar molecule can attract more water molecules than the table salt leading to its faster dissolution in water.