What accounts for the difference in molarity between sucrose and monosaccharides in a 20% solution?

The difference in molarity between sucrose and monosaccharides in a 20% solution can be attributed to the fact that sucrose has a higher molecular weight compared to monosaccharides. Molarity is a measure of concentration expressed in moles of solute per liter of solution. When calculating molarity, the number of moles is determined by dividing the mass of the solute by its molecular weight.

In this case, sucrose is a disaccharide composed of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule, giving it a molecular weight of approximately 342 g/mol. In contrast, monosaccharides like glucose and fructose have lower molecular weights, around 180 g/mol. As a result, if you have the same mass of each sugar in a solution—say, 20 grams of each—you will end up with fewer moles of sucrose than of the monosaccharides, since those moles are being divided by a larger number (the molecular weight of sucrose).

The higher molecular weight of sucrose means that in a 20% solution, it results in a lower molarity compared to an equivalent mass of monosaccharides, which leads to a higher molarity due to that lower molecular weight. Thus, the