A saccharimeter is an instrument for measuring the concentration of
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
solutions.
This is commonly achieved using a measurement of
refractive index
In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium.
The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or ...
(
refractometer
A refractometer is a laboratory or field device for the measurement of an Refractive index, index of refraction (refractometry). The index of refraction is calculated from the observed refraction angle using Snell's law. For mixtures, the index ...
) or the angle of rotation of
polarization of optically active sugars (
polarimeter
A polarimeter is a scientific instrument used to measure the angle of rotation caused by passing polarized light through an optically active substance.[food processing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...]
industries,
brewing
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
, and the distilled alcoholic drinks industry.
{{Gallery
, align=center
, File:Saccharimeter Zucker-Museum.jpg, A saccharimeter at the
Sugar Museum (Berlin)
The Sugar Museum was a museum that operated from 1904 until 2012 in Berlin with exhibits dedicated to the history and technology of sugar. At its closure as an independent museum in 2012, it was the oldest such museum in the world, and was house ...
, File:Polarimeter Saccharimeter-UNIL 603.867-IMG 2052-black.jpg, Saccharimeter at the
EPFL Physics Museum
, File:Soleil saccharimeter-IMG 6954-gradient.jpg,
Soleil
SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name ''SOLEIL'' is a backronym for ''Source optimisée de lumière d’énergie intermédiaire du LURE' ...
saccharimeter on display at the
Palais de la Découverte
The Palais de la Découverte ("Discovery Palace") is a science museum located in the Grand Palais, in the 8th arrondissement on Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, Paris, France. It is open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged.
The museum ...
External links
Historical
Bates Type Saccharimeter NIST Museum object
Measuring instruments