*This experiment was first published in Double Helix magazine.
Double Helix is the official science club of CSIRO Education.

Ooooh, are you craving to indulge your sweet tooth ... all in the name of science?

Remember to ask your parents before beginning this experiment.

WHAT YOU NEED
- 2 cups of boiled water
- 2 tea bags
- sugar

Make sure you ask a grown up first before you start using hot water!

WHAT YOU DO
1. Fill 2 cups with boiled water. Add a tea bag to each cup.

2. In 1 cup, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.

<< We started with cup number 1.

You might want to label the cups like we did, then you know which is which...

3. After a few minutes, remove the tea bags.

4. Once both drinks have cooled down add 2 tablespoons to sugar to the other cup.

<< That's cup number 2 to you and me!

5. Once the sugar has dissolved, taste each cup of iced tea. Is one sweeter than the other?

Monkey man says number 1 hits the spot >>

WHAT'S GOING ON?
The tea that you sugared while it was hot (cup number 1) is sweeter. Why? Sugar is a compound of glucose and fructose. Hot water breaks up this compound and converts sugar back into its separate parts - glucose and fructose - otherwise known as 'inverted sugar'.

Inverted sugar is about 20% sweeter than normal sugar. Mmmmm (Monkey man starts to dribble...)

So now you know the secret to making things sweeter - add sugar while it's hot.