VARIABLES

[MINITASANA]

HYPOTHESIS: IF I POP ACT II POPCORN THEN IT WILL POP THE MOST KERNELS FROM THE OTHER BRANDS

HOW CAN APPLY A VARIABLE! I WILL BE USING MICROWAVEABLE POP CORN.

ANY IDEAS?

[deleted-71709]

Hello MINITASANA,

This is a good question. You need to keep in mind there are "input variables" and "output variables" Your very first variable is in "input" variable - the brand of popcorn. You want to compare ACTII brand to others. These are variables.

When popping corn in a microwave oven, there are other key "input variables" to consider.

One input variable is the power of the oven itself. This is usually indicated on the label attached to the oven. If you use more than one oven, you need to record the power, and the brand of oven. If you use just a single oven, then this is not a variable.

If you use a single oven, two important input variables will be the power setting you choose for the oven, and the time you set for the oven to run.

A key "output variable" will be the number of un-popped kernels. However, you should not simply count them. You also must know how many kernels you started with in each bag. For instance if you tested two bags, and they both had 20 un-popped kernels, but one started with 200 kernels and the other started with 150 kernels, then you could not say they popped the same just by count the un-popped kernels.

You might also want to keep track of how many kernels got burned. I know when I pop corn in the microwave, some brands seem to burn more than others.

Finally, be sure to have fun with this project, and don't eat all that popped corn by yourself.

[theborg]

MINITASANA,

Ed Neu is right about keeping track of how many kernels you started with vs how many were unpopped at the end. One possible issue with that is that you have to open the bag prior to popping in order to count the kernels. Most microwave popcorns are designed to be popped in the bag they come in and opening it may alter the popping process and skew your results. You could test the effects of this by popping a few opened and unopened bags of each brand to see if there is a significant change in popping performance. If it turns out there isn't a difference, then I suggest following Ed's suggestion. This will yield the most accurate results. However, If there is a difference then as alternative methods of tracking your starting amounts, I suggest two possiblities for consideration:

1) Average number of kernels: Open several unpopped bags of each brand of popcorn you are going to compare and determine an average number of starting kernels by brand (for example you might find: Brand X averages 230 kernels per bag while Brand Y averages 178 kernels per bag). Use this number as your assumed starting kernel population, then pop unopened bags of each brand and again determine the average number of unpopped kernels by brand to determine which one averages the best popping results.

2) By weight: If you have the ability to accurately weigh down to fractions of an ounce then you could weigh each unoppened bag (kernels and all) to get a starting weight, pop per directions, remove all material (popped and unpopped) and weigh the empty bag, subtrack the weight of the bag from your initial weight to determine your starting weight of popcorn, then sift successfully popped kernels from the burnt and/or unpopped kernels, then weigh the burnt/unpopped kernels. Afterwards, as an example, you would be able to say something like: For every 10oz of Brand X an average of 1oz remains unpopped and for every 10oz of Brand Y an average of 1.5oz remains unpopped. Therefore Brand X is 5% more efficient at popping than Brand Y.

I hope this helps and isn't too confusing.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
theborg