Candy cane science
By Medicine Hat News on December 29, 2018.
I am sure that your house is similar to mine this week – you have a TON of candy canes and very few ideas on how to use them up. Science of course! Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – candy canes – kettle – two cups – measuring cups – marker – scissors – masking tape – ice cubes – timer – science notebook – pencil – thermometer Procedure 1. Using the masking tape, label the cups — one “hot” and the other one “cold.” 2. Fill the kettle and plug it in to heat up — listen and unplug it just before it boils, we just want it hot NOT boiling. 3. Measure 125 mL (1/2 cup) of tap water and place it in the cup labeled “cold.” Add a couple of ice cubes to really chill it. 4. Have an adult help you measure out 125 mL (1/2 cup) of the hot water. Pour this into the cup. 5. Unwrap two candy canes — for the sake of controlling the variables in your experiment it is pretty important that the candy canes are similar in size. 6. Take the temperature of the cold water and record it in your science notebook. You could change the temperatures in another trial to see if that has an effect on the dissolve rate. 7. Repeat with the hot water. 8. Place the candy canes in the water at the same time. 9. Set the timer. 10. Observe to see what the candy cane looks like after one minute, two minutes etc. until the candy cane has completely disappeared. What is going on? If you did not already know, candy canes are made primarily from sugar. Sugar is the common name of a substance better known as sucrose. For those of you that love chemistry, sucrose is a type of disaccharide made up of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose. Some people do not realize this, but sugar also has a chemical or molecular formula of C12-H22-O11. It looks pretty complex, but as you know we are all made up of atoms and one molecule of sugar contains 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms. In this experiment you should have observed that the candy cane dissolved in both cups of water; but the hot water definitely should have made this reaction happen faster. This is because there is an increased molecular motion in the hot water. The molecules are moving so fast, they begin colliding with the candy cane and as a result the sugar molecules begin to break away much faster from the candy cane allowing a faster dissolve rate. You could make this into a more complex experiment by trying different liquids or different temperatures of the water to see if this has an effect on the dissolve rate. Do not forget, science fair is just around the corner — if you are looking for assistance in the classroom do not forget to call and book it as soon as possible. Patty Rooks is senior scientific consultant at PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. 33-32
