One liter of concrete is a lot heavier than 1 liter of bird feathers! The opposite, if something has a high density, means that 1 liter of something weighs a lot more. 1 liter of bird feathers would weigh almost nothing. If something has a low density, that means that one liter of something weighs very little. It’s a measure for how much 1 liter, or 1 gallon for that matter, weighs. Density is a measure for the weight of a specific volume of something. ‘Heavier’ isn’t the correct description though, instead, we have to compare densities.

Why the milk doesn’t sink – Comparing densities The science behind this is very similar to that of chocolate milk. Here, the oil will always lie on top and the water on the bottom. Have you tried to mix oil and water by shaing them together? No matter how well you shake though, over time they’ll separate again. The ‘heavier’ phase will sink down, whereas the ‘lighter’ phase will float on top. Gravity pulls down the particles as well as the liquid. This is because of a process called sedimentation. In any suspension, the particles and liquid will split over time. As such, it will be easier to make chocolate milk from the alkalized version, though it is not impossible to use natural powder. This treatment happens to improve the solubility and dispersibility of cocoa powder in water. The former has been treated with an alkaline substance. Alkalized cocoa disperses more easily than naturalĪ common important distinct within the world of cocoa powders is the distinction between alkalized (or Dutch processed) and natural cocoa. The sugar will dissolve, the fat will melt, so you still have cocoa particles floating in the milk. Keep in mind that chocolate is made up of cocoa butter (a fat), cocoa powder and sugar. However, the same theory applies when you’d make a chocolate milk with milk and chocolate! It also speeds up the separation! Using cocoa vs chocolateįor the rest of this article, we’ll focus on a chocolate milk that’s made with cocoa powder and milk. When the fat is melted, it’s easier for the cocoa particles to disperse and mix.īut, even though hot milk speeds up the making of chocolate making. This fat is solid at room temperature, but, it melts at about body temperature. As a result, sugar dissolves a lot more quickly in hot milk than it does in cold. At higher temperatures, molecules move faster.But, hotter milk speeds things up, for a few reasons: You can make chocolate milk with both hot and cold milk. On a side note, to make a delicious chocolate milk, you’d want to use a cocoa powder that tastes good as well! And, tastes of powders differ more than you might expect! We’ve written about some of the differences between cocoa powers you can look out for. Otherwise, the cocoa will separate from the milk. To make good chocolate milk, you should stir it well, just before you’re planning to drink it. By stirring you disperse the particles throughout the milk, but they’ll remain particles. The cocoa gives the chocolate milk its chocolate flavor. The sugar will dissolve in the milk, you won’t be able to find back any sugar crystals. So what happens when you make chocolate milk? To make this suspension, all you need to do is to mix three ingredients together: Instead, you might just still be able to see them! They don’t completely break down into individual molecules. These individual molecules are so small, you can no longer see them with the bare eye, nor a light microscope.Ĭocoa particles, on the other hand, don’t dissolve. In doing so, the sugar crystals break down into individual molecules. When you mix milk and sugar, the sugar dissolves. This is very different from a milk + sugar solution. Instead, cocoa particles float within the milk. That’s because cocoa doesn’t dissolve in milk. If you’d ask a scientist they might say it’s a suspension of solid particles (= cocoa) in a continuous liquid (= milk). Making chocolate milk, cocoa powder doesn’t necessarily ‘like’ milk, so it takes some stirring to mix it all in.

If you’d ask a non-scientist, you’d probably get an answer along the lines of: milk mixed with chocolate or cocoa powder.

Strategy 3: Use a different type of milk?.

Strategy 2: Use smaller, finer particles.

Strategy 1: Increase the thickness of the milk!.

How to prevent chocolate milk from separating.

Thicker liquids slow down sedimentation.

Why the milk doesn't sink – Comparing densities.

Alkalized cocoa disperses more easily than natural.

Chocolate cashew milk