Candy Science
Candy Science
Experiment:
Sketches
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Before:
Hypothesis/Prediction: ________________ ________________ ________________ Observations: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Conclusion: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________
After:
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Chocolate Bloom Chocolate = a Bunch of Stuff Mixed Together Chocolate candy is a combination of ingredients that are processed together. They include pure chocolate from cacao beans, cocoa butter, cocoa solids, and sugar.
What you need: • •
What to do: 1.
Chocolate Is Good for You? Yes, But... Pure chocolate comes from cacao beans, making chocolate candy — in part — a plant food. Like many plant foods, chocolate can be good for your health. Researchers believe chocolate can be good for your heart and circulatory system (arteries and veins). But you should eat only a small amount of chocolate because it's high in calories. Choose a dark chocolate that has been minimally processed to get the maximum health benefits.
Chocolate candy (dark works best) A source of heat, such as a sunny windowsill
Heat your chocolate on a sunny windowsill, or in a microwave or low oven, until it starts to melt. (Chocolate melts fast. Get an adult's help if using an oven or microwave.) To check if it's melted, poke it.
2. Let the chocolate cool overnight in the refrigera-
tor. 3. Melt again and refrigerate again.
Repeat until you see light brown spots or streaks.
How Do We Make Chocolate "Bloom"? When chocolate heats and cools, some of the fat pushes out past the solid particles and forms into white crystals. This causes the light spots and streaks, which are known as chocolate bloom. Chocolate experts say it's fine to eat chocolate that has bloomed. But to keep your chocolate from blooming, keep it in a cool, dry place at 60-75° F. Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Acid Test Sour = Acid Lemon juice is so sour it makes you pucker up! Why? It's an acid. When something has a sour taste, it contains acid. The word "acid" comes from "acidus," the Latin word for sour or tart. Acid In Your Stomach? Yes! Your stomach contains gastric acid to break down (digest) food. Not to gross you out, but that's why it tastes sour and yucky when you throw up. You're tasting some of the stomach acid. How do we test for acid? If something's acidic, it will produce carbon dioxide bubbles when combined with baking soda. Carbon dioxide is the same gas you breathe out when you exhale. Is sour candy acidic? Let's find out!
What you need: Bowl Measuring cup Water Fruit-flavored or sour candy (Pixy Stix, LemonHeads, Nerds, WARHEADS) • Spoon • Baking soda • • • •
What to do: 1.
Dissolve the candy in a half-cup of water. (Pixy Stix will dissolve easily. Other candies will take longer. If the candy can be easily crushed, try that to make it dissolve more quickly.)
2. Sprinkle a spoonful of baking soda into the
candy-water mixture. 3. Watch for bubbles.
If you see bubbles, the candy is acidic.
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Color Separation Most Candy = Artificial Colors Candy makers turn sweet treats into a rainbow of colors using dyes. Just like when you're mixing paints in art, it's takes a combination of dyes to create certain colors. Colors get mixed up, but did you know you can separate them again? In this experiment, water and coffee filter paper will coax a drop of candy dye to separate back into different colors. Brown candies work well. Why? Check the candy wrapper label and you won't see brown dye listed in the ingredients. That's because the candy company uses a variety of colors together to make brown dye. Real vs. Artificial Colors If you're looking for real color that doesn't come from dye, try fruits and vegetables. The red of a strawberry, the orange of pumpkin, and the blue of blueberries are 100% natural. Ever hear the healthy food advice "Put a rainbow on your plate"? It means eat a rainbow of brightly-colored fruits and veggies.
What you need: • •
A white paper coffee filter Dyed candy such as M&Ms, Skittles, or Reese's Pieces (brown pieces work well) • A glass filled with a half-inch of water What to do: 1.
Place a drop of water on a flat surface, such as a plate.
2. Place a candy piece on the water and let color dissolve. 3. Cut a rectangle out of the coffee filter. Use the flat part, not the ruffled sides. 4. Fold the coffee filter paper rectangle vertically (longways). This will help it stand up in the glass of water. 5. Measure up about an inch from the bottom and dab a drop of candy-colored water onto the paper. 6. Fill a narrow glass with a half-inch of water. 7. Place the filter paper rectangle in the glass of water so that the water line is below the colored drop of candy dye. 8. Watch the water seep up to the top edge of the paper. Check the paper at 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour. You should see the different colors emerge on the filter.
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Density Rainbow How Dense Is Water? All things, including water, can be measured in density. Density is how much stuff is packed into the same amount of space. So a cup of water compared with a cup of honey — which is more dense? It's the gloopy, thick honey. Solid things, including your bones, can be measured in density. Nice, solid bones will be strong, less likely to break, and have high bone density. If you get enough calcium when you're young, your bones are more likely to be dense and strong for your whole life. So drink milk and eat other calcium-rich foods! Make a Candy-Colored Rainbow But back to our density rainbow: Plain water is less dense than water mixed with other stuff, such as dissolved candy (sugar). In this experiment, you'll dissolve small and large amounts of candy into water. Then you can carefully layer the differentcolored waters in a glass. The water that contains only two dissolved candies will float on top of the water mixtures that contain four, six, eight, and 10 dissolved candies. Why? The water mixtures that are less dense (fewer candies) will float on top of the layers that are more dense (more candies).
Candy Science
The Experiment What you need: • Water • Microwave-safe measuring cup • Microwave • Five small cups • A clear glass to display your rainbow • A wide spoon • Skittles in these colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and purple What to do: 1. Warm a cup of water in the microwave for about 30 seconds. (Ask an adult for help with this step.) 2. Put 2 tablespoons of warm water into each of the five cups. 3. Cup 1 will be red: Add 2 red Skittles. 4. Cup 2 will be orange: Add 4 orange Skittles. 5. Cup 3 will be yellow: Add 6 yellow Skittles. 6. Cup 4 will be green: Add 8 green Skittles. 7. Cup 5 will be purple: Add 10 purple Skittles. 8. Allow the Skittles to dissolve in the cups for 1 hour. (It may take longer for them to dissolve. Using warm water will help.) Remove or ignore the waxy film that will float on the surface. 9. When the candies are entirely dissolved, begin with the purple cup. Pour the purple water into the clear glass. 10. Use the backside of a spoon with the tip touching the side of glass to carefully add each new layer of color, beginning with green. Slowly pour the green water over the backside of the spoon so the green water rests on top of — instead of mixing with — the purple water. 11. Repeat with the rest of the colors, in this order: yellow, orange, red. Your rainbow won't last forever so enjoy it while it lasts! Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Sink or Float There's Air in There! You might guess that candy would sink if you dropped it in the bathtub. (Say, what are you doing eating candy in the tub?) But not all candy sinks. It depends on what's inside the candy. If something is more dense than water, it sinks. Hershey Kisses will sink, but a 3 Musketeers bar will not. Why not? It contains trapped air (there are air bubbles in that nougat), so it's less dense than water. You can do this density test yourself on a variety of candies. Marshmallows, including Marshmallow Peeps, will float. Kit Kat bars also will float. Can you find others?
What you need: •
•
Various candies, such as 3 Musketeers bars, Kit Kat bars, marshmallows, chocolate kisses, chocolate pretzels, hard candies, conversation hearts, candy corn, peanut butter cups, and gummi bears Cups or bowls of water
What to do: 1.
Drop the candy in the water.
2. Watch what happens: Does it sink or float?
If you have a 3 Musketeers bar, poke it to break the chocolate shell. Do you see bubbles escaping?
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Oil Test Oil in Your Candy? Chewy candy often contains oil. The oil softens the candy and helps keep it from drying out. It can also make candy more glossy or less sticky. In this experiment, you will heat and cool the candy, which will allow you to see and touch the oil. When food contains oil, it also contains fat. Starburst candy contains 5 grams of fat per package, according to the candy's nutrition information.
What you need: 1 Starburst candy Microwave (Get an adult to help — melted candy will be hot.) Microwaveable plate
• •
What to do: 1.
Remove the Starburst's paper wrapper. Place candy on a microwave-safe plate.
2. Microwave the Starburst until it turns liquid and
bubbly, about a minute. (Caution: Hot!) 3. As the Starburst cools, look for shiny spots on
top. This is the melted oil. When it's completely cool, the oil will harden into whitish spots (like wax). Scrape them off and rub them between your fingers to feel the oil. Try this with other candy and note what you find.
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
The Experiment
Floating Letters What R U Eating? You've eaten words before. Just think of the icing on your birthday cake. But what about the letters on candy you eat. What are they made of? Turns out, the "M" on M&Ms and the "S" on Skittles are made of edible ink. Instead of dissolving in water, they'll float to the surface. When the rest of the candy shell dissolves, the letters peel off and rise to the top. Some of the letters break into pieces, but a few should survive intact.
What you need: • •
Cup of water M&Ms or Skittles
What to do: 1.
Drop the M&Ms or Skittles in the water letter side up. (Don't stir. You might break the letters into pieces.) After a few minutes, look for floating letters.
It's easy to try!
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
Candy Science
Candy Science
Sticky Stuff The Science of Sticky Stickiness is serious business. Scientists study it, throwing around words like "viscoelasticity" and examining the super-sticky feet of little lizards called geckos. So explaining the stickiness of candy is complicated. But let's start by explaining why sugar is sticky. Sugar molecules are made up of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms. Together, they create tiny sugar crystals, and bunches of crystals all together are what you find in your sugar bowl. Sugar + Water = Sticky If you add water (moisture), the sugar crystals dissolve, breaking the chemical bonds between the sugar molecules. Then the sugar sticks to whatever it touches. Would it surprise you to know that sugar is an ingredient in some glues? Probably not, if you've every held a piece of candy in your hand or put it in your pocket. A Word About Your Teeth... Dentists (and parents) often tell you not to eat too much sticky stuff. For someone with braces, sticky candy is a problem because it can get stuck in all those wires and brackets. Even if you don't have braces, sticky candy can stick to your teeth and lead tocavities. If you do eat candy, be sure to brush your teeth afterward. In this experiment, you'll play around with candy to see which is the stickiest. These factors will affect the stickiness: warmth, moisture (water), and how much oil the candy contains.
The Experiment What you need: • •
Several blocks of chewy candy such as taffy, Starburst, Laffy Taffy, or Airheads Small hard candies such as Valentine conversation hearts, Smarties, or Sweet Tarts
What to do: 1.
Wet and mold each chewy candy until it is soft and easy to work with.
2. Try to attach round candy wheels to make a
candy car. The candy that best holds the wheels is the stickiest.
Experiment found at kidshealth.org
