Why does hot water dissolve some things faster than cold water?
The Speed-Up Splash
Why does hot water dissolve some things faster than cold water?
Drop a spoonful of sugar into iced tea and it sulks at the bottom for ages. Drop it into hot tea and — poof — it's gone almost before you've stirred. Same sugar, same water, wildly different speed. So what is the hot water doing that the cold water can't be bothered to do?
First, a secret about water. It looks calm and still, but every drop is made of trillions of tiny water particles, and they are never holding still. They jiggle, bump, and shove each other constantly, like a crowd in a packed room that can't stop fidgeting.
