Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

For the experiment 'how can tofu pack such a powerful punch?' we thought the frozen tofu would have less water remaining in the measuring cup (absorbing more). But, the results showed that there was more liquid in the frozen tofu cup after two minutes (absorbing less than the unfrozen). We are not sure if we were looking to prove that the previously frozen tofu could absorb liquids more easily, or that the unfrozen tofu is more dense and has a larger volume? Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

Hi lulu08... I like you're experiment idea!

After reading over the experiment, it seems that you are measuring absorption. If your frozen tofu absorbed less liquid than the unfrozen tofu then the unfrozen tofu has a high average amount of liquid absorption. I wouldn't start measuring density because your graph and data table are based off of absorption.

I can see why you are confused because freezing the tofu is supposed to make it more songe-like and airy ( which you would probably think can aborb more than one that was not forzen). Although your results of the frozen tofu was unexpected, it is still correct.

Sometimes experiments do not come out the way you would expect. But I still encourage you to use your data and watch out for other factors the experiment directions suggest like color, texture, structure, and even sound changes.

Maybe you can also talk about possible errors that might have caused variability in your data. Like maybe if you used a glass tub a ware container instead of plastic?

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!