Sucrose is dextrorotatory, although it converts to dextrorotatory glucose and laevorotatory fructose following hydrolysis.
The mixture is laevorotatory because the laevorotation of fructose is greater than the dextrorotation of glucose .
As a result of the hydrolysis of sucrose, the sign of rotation changes from dextro () to laevo (), and the product is known as invert sugar.
Final answer:
Hence, sucrose is called invert sugar because the sign of rotation changes from dextro () to laevo ().