Question

Suppose you have an unknown chemical reaction involving carbohydrates. What is one way to test whether the reaction is dehydration synthesis or hydrolysis reaction?

Answer 1

in case of determining note the carbon bond,note if there is a branching,or simply you can note if water is evolved,if it does,that means that the reaction is dehydration synthesis.

Answer 2

is this on paper or in the lab?

if it's in the lab, you can check for a a change in carbohydrate concentration using uv-vis spectroscopy.