How come sugar dissolves in water?
Sugar is a molecular solid. It dissolves in water because when a sucrose molecule breaks from the sugar crystal, it is immediately surrounded by water molecules. The sucrose has hydroxyl groups that have a slight negative charge. The positive charge of the oxygen found in the water molecule binds with the sugar. Think of it kind of like the molecules are made up of tiny little magnets. As the hydration shell forms around the molecule, it is shielded from other sugar molecules so the sugar crystal does not reform.
