What Elements Make up Sugar?

By Staff WriterLast Updated April 06, 2020

Also known as sucrose, sugar is made up of 22 hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms and 12 carbon atoms in each molecule. Sucrose is made up of two simple sugars, fructose and glucose. Sugar is a carbohydrate that has 45 atoms.

Under a microscope, a molecule of sugar looks like a cube. When cooking, acid is added to the sugar to break the cube apart. The acid breaks the sucrose down into fructose and glucose.

Sugar exists in most plants. However, it is harvested primarily from sugarcane. Sugarcane is harvested all around the world with Brazil as the world’s largest producer of sugar.