What physical property allows polarimetry to verify the sugar profile of honey?
Answer
Optical activity.
Honey exhibits optical activity, a phenomenon common in many sugar solutions. This means that when a beam of plane-polarized light is passed through a sample of honey, the plane of polarization of that light beam is rotated. The specific direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) and the degree of this rotation are directly dependent on the precise ratio and type of the principal sugars present, fructose and glucose. Consequently, polarimetry can be utilized as a verification tool to analyze and confirm the underlying sugar profile of a honey sample.
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