motobrewer
I'm no atheist scientist, but...
As far as dissolving it in water goes, the overall mass of the water/sugar increases, but the amount of space (volume) that is taken up is pretty is EXACTLY the same as the volume of the water did.
i have dissolved a lot of sugar in a lot of water, and this is innaccurate.
In my experience, if you have 8 oz weight of water(~8oz volume, or 1 cup), and put 8oz weight of cane sugar in it, you will have roughly 12oz volume of solution.