Why Energy drinks are bad goodfor you?

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vandeventereben
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Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:45 am
Occupation: Parent

Why Energy drinks are bad goodfor you?

Post by vandeventereben »

My daughter is busy with her grade 7 science fair project. She chose the topic Why energy drinks are bad for you. Now, we have allot of content comparing moster and red bull, bit I am not sure what experiment we can show. Do you perhaps know how we can test for caffein content or any related experiment?

Thank you,
Eben (South Africa)
norman40
Former Expert
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Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:49 pm
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Re: Why Energy drinks are bad goodfor you?

Post by norman40 »

Hi vandeventereben,

Testing energy drinks for caffeine content may be a bit complicated. There is a test strip that can be used but application is limited to solutions that don't contain sugar (or milk):

https://www.popularmechanics.com/techno ... 1/4309061/

A more accurate and applicable method involves the use of a UV spectrophotometer:

https://camblab.info/wp/index.php/how-c ... -drinks-2/

But the method requires access to a UV spectrophotometer and some specialized glassware and chemicals.

You might take a look at two Science Buddies projects that explore characteristics of sports drinks.
In the first, the electrolyte content of sports drinks and orange juice are measured and compared. The second project involves measuring the blue dye concentration in sports drinks with a simple spectrophotometer.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... orts-drink

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... rts-drinks

Perhaps these projects will inspire some additional ideas about your project.

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman
cnoonan180
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Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:33 am
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Re: Why Energy drinks are bad goodfor you?

Post by cnoonan180 »

Hello!

Another property of sports drinks you can test with a simple test strip is pH level. For example, the more acidic a soda is, the higher amount of tooth decay it will cause. This can also be related to the color of the soda or drink. The same generally holds true for sports drinks as different brands and types do have varying pH levels. Test strips for pH can be purchased online or at a local drugstore.

As a fellow expert suggested, testing for electrolytes is another simple test you can perform. One electrolyte you can test for is salt (and do some background research about the negative heath effects of consuming too much salt). Salt content is usually labeled on packaging, but performing your own tests for accuracy would be a good idea for your project.

You can also test for the amount of sugar in these drinks and again look into the negative health affects of consuming large amounts of sugar. Here's an example procedure of how you could perform this test:

https://www.livestrong.com/article/4120 ... ned-drink/

Lastly, as a more advanced element of your project should you want to take an extra step is that could calculate the percentage of calories that come from sugar in each of the drinks to determine which drink is "healthier," or has a lower percentage of sugar. To do this, remember that each gram of sugar is 4 calories, so first you must multiply the number of grams of sugar in the drink by 4. Then, subtract the number of calories of sugar from the total number of calories in the drink. Divide the difference by the total number of calories in the drink to get a decimal, and multiply this by 100 to find the percent. This is a math concept your daughter may not have learned in school yet, and is just a suggestion.

Hope this helps and feel free to reach out with more questions!
-cnoonan180
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