Question

A student doing an experiment spilled some salt and sugar into the sink. How should these substances be cleaned up?

flush them with water down the drain
sweep them up with your bare hands
use a match to burn them away
drop a weak acid on them to break them up

Answer 1

The best way to clean up the spilled salt and sugar in the sink is to **flush them with water down the drain**. Both salt and sugar are soluble in water, so rinsing them away will effectively remove them without leaving any residue.

The other options are not appropriate:
- **Sweeping them up with your bare hands** is not effective for a sink and may lead to messiness.
- **Using a match to burn them away** is dangerous and not suitable for these substances.
- **Dropping a weak acid on them** is unnecessary since both substances dissolve easily in water.

So flushing them down the drain with water is the recommended method.