Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Materials Three glasses Water Measuring cup White crystal sugar Measuring spoons that include one teaspoon and one quarter teaspoon Mixing and tasting spoons White wine vinegar Other types of vinegar will work, too, but might not provide an equally pleasant taste.
Procedure Measure one cup of water and add it to the first glass. This will be the glass for sugar water. Add one teaspoon of sugar to the glass of water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste the sugar—water solution. Does it taste sweet, pleasantly sweet or too sweet?
Repeat the previous step four more times in the same glass, each time adding one more teaspoon of sugar, mixing and tasting. After how many teaspoons did you find the sugar water had become pleasantly sweet? You have now added a total of five teaspoons of sugar. This is approximately 25 grams.
Do you find this amount of sugar in one cup of water unpleasantly sweet? Knowing one cup about milliliters of soda has about 25 grams of sugar, why do you think most people find soda tasty but find this sugar water less palatable? Pour half of the sugar water from the first glass into a second glass. Be as precise as you can.
This will be the glass for sugar and vinegar water. Set the leftover half cup of sugar water aside for later. Next you will now add vinegar to the sugar and water solution, a little bit at a time. How much vinegar do you think you will need to add before the drink tastes good, or do you think the sugar and vinegar water solution will never taste good?
Now add a quarter teaspoon of vinegar into this second glass, mix and taste the solution. How does it taste? Is it better than the pure sugar water? If your solution does not have a pleasing taste yet, add another quarter teaspoon of vinegar, mix and taste again. Repeat this step until you get a pleasant tasting solution—but remember to keep track of how much vinegar you added. Are you surprised about how quickly the sugar water changes taste as you add small amounts of vinegar?
Set your sugar and vinegar water solution aside and pour half a cup of water into the third glass. This will be your vinegar water glass. Rating: 5 stars. I have a secret to confess. Though the recipe says not to, I used concentrated lemon juice and the results were excellent!
Truly excellent! I make this often now, with both lemon and lime concentrate. Read More. Rating: 1 stars. Reviews: Most Helpful. This was the best lemonade ever. I've tried several recipes for lemonade but this is by far the best. My husband drank the entire pitcher in one sitting! I think the salt is the trick. It really made a difference. Thanks for sharing this one Sue! This lemonade is the absolute best.
I've made it twice and it's been a huge hit whether it's cold or hot outside. Great recipe - thanks! AJ Flores. I made it with Splenda instead of sugar and it was good. Next time more lemon juice to make it more tart than sweet. My preference. Mandy Steinhardt. Rating: 4 stars. When you bite into a lemon, the citric acid activates taste buds along the sides and center of your tongue - This statement is incorrect and should be updated.
I think it is particularly important as this site seems aimed at children. Thanks for the information, Buster! We appreciate you looking out for our Wonder Friends and taking your own Wonder Journey to find this information!! Well it can be difficult to localize flavors. Plus that sourness from the lemon can be pretty overwhelming. We suggest trying it more times and see what happens just kidding!
We are so glad that you tried it out FR, Talia! That's a great question, RJ! We hope you can do a little more research to see if you can find the answer to that one. Hi, Tim! By researching this Wonder, we found that citric acid is the reason lemons are sour.
If you WONDER why citric acid is sour, we encourage you to keep digging online or at your local library to find out more information! Hi grace! Hey Chelsey! You're welcome, Lucie! We thought that might help our Wonder Friends "see" how sour lemons can be! Have you ever made a face when you've tasted something super sour, soccer?
We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply.
Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. Why are lemons sour? What is citric acid? What are taste buds? Wonder What's Next? Be sure to explore the following activities with a friend or family member: Ask a friend or family member to take you on a field trip to your local grocery store. Buy a few lemons to take home to conduct a simple taste test. When you get home, slice the lemon into wedges and take a bite as if you were eating an orange slice.
What do you think? Is it more or less sour than you expected it to be? Can you taste the citric acid? Some people can eat lemons by themselves, while others prefer only to use their juice. What about you? Put your tongue to the test and create a taste bud map. Sample a bit of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter foods and report back on what tickles your taste buds. You can follow the directions in this easy Tongue Map activity with a friend or a family member and see if your results match up.
Have fun! If you're up for a challenge, ask an adult friend or family member to help you set up your own lemonade stand. You'll need a pitcher, water, sugar, and enough lemons to make plenty of lemonade.
You'll also need to make some financial decisions. How much should you charge for each cup of lemonade? You'll want to cover the cost of your materials, as well as make a profit. If you charge too much, though, you won't get many customers. What price seems right to you? Did you get it? Test your knowledge. Wonder Words sour pucker serious organic citrus concentration interpret receptor bitter fruit tip lime acid bud lemon orange taste ingredient Take the Wonder Word Challenge.
Join the Discussion.
0コメント