In Which We Identify Carbohydrates in a Lab

     Using test tubes and mixing chemicals is stereotypical science class, it's what young students look forward to most. Unfortunately there is no fizzing and exploding in these glass vials. This lab was simply mixing carbohydrates (mono, di and poly- saccharides) with Iodine and Benedict's (not Benedict Cumberbatch the Sherlock actor. Shame on you.) solution. Mixing them up and sometimes heating them causes them to react and change. Shall we begin the science?

Let the science commence!

     Benedict's solution is blue and requires heating to view a reaction while Iodine is brownish-orange and only needs mixed. Taking 3 test tubes, I added a few drops of Benedict's solution to Mono-, Di-, and Poly-.  This magic is shown in the picture below!

Not very exciting... Yes I meant to put the 'E' in 'Di'

P.S. Mono- not pictured because of an unnamed failure.

     After adding the droplets of Benedict's I transported them to a super Sciencey heated water machine. I let the three test tubes sit in the water for 3 minutes. When I retrieved them I found an intense surprise.

I set them up in this fabulous test tube rack for your viewing pleasure.

As you can see the benedict process made this monosaccharide a super amazing orange color

     From this experiment we can see that neither a disaccharide or a polysaccharide will react with Benedicts solution, so a monosaccharide will react with the Benedict's solution. The next reactant we tried with the saccharides was iodine, which was applied with pipet to the subjects. 

That's not soy sauce....... it's science sauce.

     From the iodine solution, the only saccharide that showed a major reaction was the polysaccharide. From this experiment, we were able to see that a mono- and di- saccharide will not react with iodine. To give this experiment set a quick glance, a table will now be provided.

     For the next part of the lab, I tested various household items with the Benedict's and iodine solution to see what form of saccharide they contained. I chose Karo syrup (corn muck), Spray starch (what you use to make stiff clothes), and a concoction we'll call Cheerio Juice (the water that contained cheerios for a very long time.) The last is just a way to test the saccharide in the sugar of the beloved breakfast cereal, which requires a liquid form. This set differs from the last as we began with the iodine solution instead.

These are the subjects Cheerio Juice; Karo Syrup; and Spray Starch respectively.

Come on Karo Syrup... Why do you have to be so difficult.

     Adding Iodine to the subjects showed more than just Karo Syrup's refusal to cooperate. From this experiment we found that cheerios and spray starch contain polysaccharides, because neither a monosaccharide nor a disaccharide will react to  the iodine test. 

Accidentally chose the best subjects to test...... Ever!

    Benedict's solution obviously proved to be way cooler with our subjects. After being heated for three minutes we were able to see that spray starch is the only subject that does not contain a monosaccharide. Here is a table to summarize what happened in the last few panels.

By "yes" I meant there was indeed a reaction and vice versa.

   With this information, you can test your own set of weird subjects (including Tiger Toenails) and see whether it contains a monosaccharide or a polysaccharide!