Question

if a jar of honey sits for a long time, sugar may crystallize in the jar.describe two possible cause for this crystallization?

Answer 1

The two possible causes for crystallization in honey is 1. The condition of the room. (if the temperature keeps rising and dropping rapidly) 2. Crystallization rate also depends on the type of honey you keep in your cabinet. There are 300 different kinds of honey and each type crystalizes differently

Answer 2

Temperature and humidity

Step-by-step explanation:

Crystallization occurs in super saturated solution. These are the solutions that have solute to solvent ratio of 2:1 or more. Typical honey is 70% sugar and 20% water (the solute concentration is too high).

Two things cause honey to crystallize.

1. Temperature
2. Humidity level

If temperature is lowered the rate of crystallization increases. This is because at low temperature the molecules of solvent come closer and the space between them reduces. This causes the additional solute molecules to be pushed up to form crystals.

Secondly, humidity also plays a key role. If the humidity reduces, the water molecules evaporates from honey into air. This increases the relative concentration of the solute inside the honey, which causes the honey to crystallize.