No, I can assure you sugar does not re-crystalize after being mixed in hot tea. It is super interesting how differently people view this subject just based on where they grew up.
You’re right with normal tea, but normal tea is never saturated. If you added another pound or so of sugar while hot, then let it cool, it would absolutely recrystalise (barring supersaturation). But you’re right, that’s not a factor in normal tea. It’s about the rate of dissolution (which also depends on temperature), not saturation point.
That is only because it’s not saturated. If you added an ungodly amount of sucrose (and I like it ridiculously sweet but this would be undrinkable), it would recrystalise when chilled. That’s why there’s a controversy here. A saturated solution would recrystallise, but people are pointing out that tea obviously doesn’t do that. That’s simply because no one drinks it saturated. It’s hard to stir in while cold because the rate of dissolution varies as temperature. That’s why there’s some confusing as to thinking it’s about the saturation point. It’s actually below it in both cases (hot and cold). To learn more about that mechanism, read about how reaction rate is affected by temperature.
No, I can assure you sugar does not re-crystalize after being mixed in hot tea. It is super interesting how differently people view this subject just based on where they grew up.
You’re right with normal tea, but normal tea is never saturated. If you added another pound or so of sugar while hot, then let it cool, it would absolutely recrystalise (barring supersaturation). But you’re right, that’s not a factor in normal tea. It’s about the rate of dissolution (which also depends on temperature), not saturation point.
That is very interesting, and not something I remember from my very limited exposure to chemistry in school. Thanks for clearing that up!
That is only because it’s not saturated. If you added an ungodly amount of sucrose (and I like it ridiculously sweet but this would be undrinkable), it would recrystalise when chilled. That’s why there’s a controversy here. A saturated solution would recrystallise, but people are pointing out that tea obviously doesn’t do that. That’s simply because no one drinks it saturated. It’s hard to stir in while cold because the rate of dissolution varies as temperature. That’s why there’s some confusing as to thinking it’s about the saturation point. It’s actually below it in both cases (hot and cold). To learn more about that mechanism, read about how reaction rate is affected by temperature.