What Is the Chemical Formula of Sugar?

The chemical formula of sugar depends on what type of sugar you are talking about and what type of formula you need. Table sugar is the common name for a sugar known as sucrose. It is a type of disaccharide made from the combination of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose. The chemical or molecular formula for sucrose is C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, which means each molecule of sugar contains 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms.

The type of sugar called sucrose is also known as saccharose. It is a saccharide that is made in many different plants. Most table sugar comes from sugar beets or sugarcane. The purification process involves bleaching and crystallization to produce a sweet, odorless powder.

The English chemist William Miller coined the name sucrose in 1857 by combining the French word sucre, which means "sugar", with the -ose chemical suffix that is used for all sugars.

Formulas for Different Sugars

However, there are many different sugars besides sucrose.

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Molecular Formula for Sugar (Sucrose)

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Other sugars and their chemical formulas include:

Arabinose - C₅H₁₀O₅

Fructose - C₆H₁₂O₆

Galactose - C₆H₁₂O₆

Glucose - C₆H₁₂O₆

Lactose - C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁

Inositol - C₆H₁₂O₆

Mannose - C₆H₁₂O₆

Ribose - C₅H₁₀O₅

Trehalose - C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ 

Xylose - C₅H₁₀O₅

Many sugars share the same chemical formula, so it is not a good way to distinguish between them. The ring structure, location and type of chemical bonds, and three-dimensional structure are used to distinguish between sugars.