How to turn milk into sugar

September 18, 2007 by Geeks are Sexy | 36 comments

This is an extremely cool science experiment. It doesn’t cost much and will amaze everyone you know. Ok, the result isn’t exactly sugar, but nonetheless, the project is still extremely interesting.

All you need is:

1- A box of baking soda
2- One teaspoon of citric concentrate
3- Half a teaspoon of honey
4- A glass of milk

I have absolutely no idea how the whole process turns milk into a sugary powder. Can anyone here explain the science behind the reaction?

Or maybe there’s nothing to explain at all. Watch the video again and make up your own mind :)

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36 Comments »

Comment by fett
2007-09-18 06:09:03

lol … such an obvious edit job, watch the glass at 2:05 when the guy leaves the picture.

Comment by Pete Klammer
2007-09-21 21:24:06

I wonder how much I can make overnight selling “citric concentrate” on eBay?!! ROFL

 
Comment by the truth
2007-09-21 22:26:14

just check out the towel in the back just right after he leaves the cameras view super ameture mistake.

 
 
Comment by Kiltak
2007-09-18 06:34:19

Yeah, I was wondering if anyone would see it :)

 
Comment by Fred
2007-09-18 06:44:25

HAHA. And here I was, the biologist trying to figure out where the H’s and OH’s went and how citric acid and honey would make milk dry out.
D’er.

Comment by Kiltak
2007-09-18 06:46:40

PWND.

 
 
Comment by krillz
2007-09-18 11:53:33

I wonder how many easily fooled people did this in front of people without testing it first by themselves.

That I would want to see.

 
Comment by Brian Gaut
2007-09-18 13:30:44

Is it just me, or wouldnt the citric acids make the milk curd within an hour?

I remember some kids book experiment that told you to put lemon juice in milk to see it curd up.

Thats probably all this guy is doin…. just hoping people will make some stinky curdled milk, haha

-Plasma2002
-Brian Gaut

 
Comment by Linda Parsons
2007-09-19 11:47:45

I have been to 9 stores and can not find the citrus concentrate, any ideas . very cool .

Comment by Adrian Bell
2007-10-20 06:40:46

Linda,

The only citrus concentrate you will find is in liquid form and more useful as a cleaning agent. This is a poor con video to get money out of Metacafe.

Adrian

 
 
Comment by hank
2007-09-19 16:48:53

man, if this isnt real im gonna be really pissed cause he already made 350 dollars off it!

Comment by Kiltak
2007-09-19 17:10:26

Hahaha.. look at the video carefully :)

Fake or not? :) lol

 
 
Comment by Benóný (Iceland)
2007-09-20 14:41:11

I actually don’t think it’s a fake, you can see at 2:05 that the milk doesn’t change, at least not much, but if you watch after that… Well see for yourselves

 
Comment by Helper
2007-09-20 15:04:29

Look at the towel

Comment by Kiltak
2007-09-20 16:00:04

Yeah, I also noticed that the towel “flickers” briefly.. but it happens BEFORE the reaction takes place :)

 
 
Comment by dungbeatlesssmell
2007-09-21 00:38:33

That towel really did flicker but nothing lese changed tahts the thing i can’t tell if its fake or not so I’m going to do it in a little bit exactly the way he did. I tried it once and like i didnt leave it in the fridge at all and just mixed it so like it didnt turn out very well just faomy stuff but it did kinda taste good.

 
Comment by Dan
2007-09-21 08:53:11

Watch the top left of the milk right when he leaves the screen. Its right where the the bottom of the r in process pops up.

 
Comment by Humberto
2007-09-21 13:37:10

The towel flickers.. meaning he cuts the top half of the video when he leaves the scene, so when the bottom half of the video fades to the glass with sugar he won’t be misplaced. Very clever =P
fooled me for a while, I was really going to try this! X´D

 
Comment by chazman
2007-09-21 22:50:12

At 2:10 you can see the contents at the top (rear) of the glass change shape. It looks good to me.
Obviously, it’s not truly sugar. Citric concentrate (apparently used by some hunters to treat fresh meat) may be another name for citric acid. Check with a pharmacist.

 
Comment by mugsy
2007-09-25 15:57:06

I tried it two times and nothing happened so gave it one last go and nearly fainted.It works and tastes like powdered ice cream.

Comment by Kiltak
2007-09-25 16:13:13

You’re not serious? I’d need additional proofs to believe it!

Comment by Adrian Bell
2007-10-20 06:28:23

Rediculous. . this is a FAKE lol. If you had done it after the third attempt, you would have changed the course of science.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by scientist
2009-09-29 15:17:54

My grandpa is a food scientist, and he worked for the government for many years as one. I can understand getting sugar from milk. Their is actually two types of C6 H12 O6 (chemical formula for sugar) in milk. Both structures of sugar, glucose and glactose, are bonded together. For you chemists out their I think all sugars are left handed molecules. People who lack the enzyme to break this bond are also known as lactose intolerant. I am still looking for a way to seperate the sugar from milk.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Matt
2007-09-25 19:23:25

What else doesn’t make sense is why mix the Citric concentrate in with the baking soda and then only use that little bit? How could you even be sure that you had any Citric c. in the spoon? Also he throws in “Don’t make to much of a mess” at the end.

 
Comment by Bob
2007-10-02 16:42:59

Why don’t you try it. You’ll really surprised when you see your all wrong!!It does work.

 
Comment by Omar Atcho Needs to Know this for School!!!
2007-10-05 05:38:39

how does this work?!?!?!?!??!?!!??!!?

 
Comment by guy
2007-10-10 20:06:58

Citric Acid is, of course, and acid. Baking Soda, on the other hand, is a strong base. Mix the two together in powder form and I would imagine not a lot happens. But, then add it to a liquid (like milk) and the two will react making your cup of milk into a little volcano (like the old science project done by kids for a hundred years). That’s what “Don’t make too much of a mess” means! Lol!

Comment by martin!
2007-10-11 15:45:03

an acid and a base just neutralise each other, don’t they…?

not fluffeynes involved…….

blah?

 
 
Comment by John
2007-10-11 10:02:04

Some comments on this “trick”. First, there is a typo in the opening title…left out the word “to”. No biggie on the typo but you will also notice he turned on the right handle of his faucet which would normally be COLD water. Notice how the “citric concentrate” he measures into the spoon has grains that closely resemble sugar. Citric acid, if I recall correctly, normally has more of a powdery consistency. As for the result, I don’t know of any chemical reaction that can absorb the large amount of water into a crystalline matrix that would be required here. If you try this, you will notice the honey sinks and becomes a goey ball at the bottom of the glass. Notice there is no clumping of the grains he pours out and there is no “un-reacted” residue on the bottom of the glass. It’s a good trick but don’t expect to get sugar from it. It looks like a video version of a “Snipe Hunt” :>)

 
Comment by A Kemistry Teecher
2007-10-13 07:39:33

Don’t believe everything you see (or read) on the internet.

I don’t think what you see is real. That reaction does not work as described. M?1 is perpetuating a fraud.
What is “citric concentrate”? There is no known rxn between baking soda and milk except to make the milk turn sour and curdle up. The added honey does nothing at all. It just makes a disgusting mess.

Look at the towel in the video. At around 2:06 it flickers or moves because the video has been edited.

 
Comment by s-e-b-a-s
2007-10-13 15:48:10

God!!! I was fooled for a second, I actually thought of trying it =) you can see the towel move, the shadow of the glass moves slightly when he comes back into picture, and if you think about it he might not be alone, so at any time he can stay still and someone else change glasses. Fake but cool prank!!!

 
Comment by albin
2007-10-14 23:16:31

Merde I tryed this experiment 10 times it doesnt work hihihihihihihih

 
Comment by The Authority
2007-10-15 13:12:11

Ok first off this was a clever ploy to earn rewards from metacafe.com by getting as many people as possible to view it. It doesnt take a genius to see the cleverness in this video. Lets discuss some reasons why this TRICK is debunked.

Reason 1 – Citric concentrate only comes in liquid form as a cleaning agent for carpets and other surfaces…not powder!

Reason 2 – The video director made sure there was no label on his citric concentrate container. Also the powder he claims is citric concentrate looks suspiciously like refined sugar grains!

Reason 3 – He turned on the right handle of his faucet which would normally be COLD water.

Reason 4 – Why in the world would the honey need to be heated by warm water instead of a microwave? Both would accomplish the same thing.

Reason 5 – Freezing baking powder or a mixture of any other powder for that matter, would not change the chemical or physical composition.

Reason 6 – As its been brought out…The towel flickers at about 2:00sec…. meaning he cuts the top half of the video when he leaves the scene, so when the bottom half of the video fades to the glass with sugar
he won’t be misplaced.

All of the evidence suggests that the director has given certain clues about the obvious validity of such an experiment. Either purposely or by mistake he has apprised the answer to the begging question in all those naive minds….Does this really work?!?!

The answer is NO!!! The one word used to sum up this video should be CLEVER. I challenge anyone to even find a citric concentrate to perform the experiment properly! You wont be able to. And now excuse me while I go make my own convincing video to make money.

Comment by Kiltak
2007-10-15 15:54:39

ROFL! This is the most excellent answer we’ve received up to now :)

 
 
Comment by Tony
2007-10-16 09:54:42

Also Reason #7 would be that when he put the baking soda in the box had the labels on it, but when he made the powder at the beginning the labels on the box were off.
I’m not sure if this means anything, but it sure didn’t help for the director to do that… in addition to all the other editing mistakes.
Aslo at 2:01 at the top left of the glass there is a black dot…… then at 2:05 it vanishes….. at the same time as all the other stuff that the director screwd up!!!
And I honestly don’t think the towel moved, it was just the light.
But after all that….. very clever….. but yet…… not so clever!!!

 
Comment by z3rongod
2007-10-23 02:37:00

Reason#8 Why mix it in the top only? so you will ruin all the baking soda? And why place it in the freezer for at least 24 hours in the box when you can spread it on a sheet of paper (or more in the situation of freezing the entire box) for more efficient freezing.

 
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