Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I was looking at this project on the science buddies website and i found a project that i might be able to do :

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... c&from=TSW

I was wondering if you thought it was a okay project and if it actually makes sense.

thanks!

Hi Hhamodat,

Yes, the calorimeter project looks like a project you can do within the next week, but you will have to spend time on the project every day because you will probably want to test several samples. You will need to measure the volume of water carefully and record the temperature in degrees Centigrade. You also need a way to accurately measure the weight of your food samples in grams.

The project outline describes how to make the calorimeter, but you will need to develop a purpose, question, and hypothesis for your project. This will make it a unique project, and you will learn a lot by doing it. What type of food sample do you want to test? Do you want to compare baked and fried potato chips? Or another group of foods? Why don't you think about your question while you are gathering the supplies for your calorimeter? I recommend testing all samples twice so you can determine the reproducibility of your results. If possible, you might want to make 2 calorimeters so you can run two samples at once. It looks like it will take about an hour to run one sample.

Donna Hardy