Areas of Science Cooking & Food Science
Difficulty
Time Required Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety This science fair project requires adult help. The boiling sugar solution is extremely hot.
*Note: For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.

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Abstract

If you browse through a candy cookbook, you might notice that many of the recipes call for corn syrup in addition to sugar. Both sugar and corn syrup are sweet, so why do you need corn syrup if you already have sugar? In candy making, corn syrup is known as an interfering agent. But what does this mean and how does it work? You can find out for yourself by making two batches of rock candy, one with corn syrup and one without. For example, you could alter the science project When Science is Sweet: Growing Rock Candy Crystals by replacing 1 tablespoon (tbsp) of water (in the sugar-water solution) with 1 tbsp of corn syrup in one of the batches of rock candy. (Make sure the batches are prepared the same in every other way.) Are there any differences between the two rock candy batches? Once you understand what an interfering agent is, you could try experimenting with other ingredients to see if they can act as interfering agents, too.

Bibliography

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General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "Hey, There's Corn in My Candy!" Science Buddies, 23 June 2020, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/FoodSci_p017/cooking-food-science/corn-syrup-candy. Accessed 24 Jan. 2021.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2020, June 23). Hey, There's Corn in My Candy! Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/FoodSci_p017/cooking-food-science/corn-syrup-candy


Last edit date: 2020-06-23

Experimental Procedure

For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.

If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.

Share your story with Science Buddies!

I did this project Yes, I Did This Project! Please log in (or create a free account) to let us know how things went.

Ask an Expert

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Ask an Expert

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