Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,

I'm looking back at my starting question for my project, "Which dyes are used in M&M candy shells?", is this question too vague? My experiment is on candy chromatograpy, what makes these colors. I was reading where it says that my project question needs to identify something that you will change or experiment with.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

kameronmiller - I am not an expert (or even knowledgeable) in this field. I did do a simple search on the internet and found the following link. It actually pertains to some of the elements of your experiment. M&M's colors all contain various listed FDA approved dyes. By law, they must label their product when known dyes contain compounds that could cause allergic reactiions in some people. They may not have to list non allergen dyes. Also, they may not have to list the combinations and proportions to produce certain colors. This paper explains 'paper chromatography' and the procedure for the experiment. Perhaps this will allow you to define your experiments goals. It might be similar to 'quantitive versus qualitative' chemical analysis. You can look that one up, but you seem pretty understanding. Maybe your question is along the lines of 'which different dyes are used to produce the different colors for M&M candies?', or something like that and how paper chromatography can be used to determine the presence of certain dyes. Your experiments might lead to that answer.

http://chemistry.bd.psu.edu/jircitano/C ... aphy05.pdf

Rick Marz

i think it would be best if you express in your question, exactly what you are studying. so, for example, you would rewrite your question to include the term "candy chromatograpy" in it so that those reading it know exactly what you did your reseqarch on; good luck!

all the best!