Stained Glass Candy Chemistry Lab - Moles, Molecules, etc.

Stained Glass Candy Lab

This inexpensive lab activity is a fun application of mole and molecule calculations for chemistry students. This two day activity has students calculating mass, moles, molecules, and formula weights while following specific instructions for making a semi-hard peppermint flavored candy in jewel tones. It’s a great activity for the holidays, Valentine’s Day or even St. Patrick’s Day.

Careful measurements and following the instructions well = great product; sloppy = crumbly mess, or worse – burnt sugar.

Note: Cooking is done in aluminum muffin or cupcake cups cut from a disposable pan. Cooking can be done with Bunsen burners or hot plates. You do not need food safe thermometers because you’ll use the qualitative, soft ball stage as a measure for temperature.

• Power Point to drive the calculations
• Reinforcement of difficult concepts
• Hands on experience
• Cooperative Learning
• Mole and atom calculations
• Teacher instructions and set up
• Student handouts
• Key with sample calculations


Keywords: cooking, chemistry, sucrose, peanut brittle, moles, mass, molecules, molar mass, formula weight, aluminum, potassium tartrate, lactose, stoichiometry, Avogadro, Kelvin, Celcius, celsius, gram formula weight, molecular mass, temperature