Gum Essay, Research Paper

In this experiment the independent variable was the amount of mass lost by the gum, the dependant variable was the time the gum was chewed. The controls were how much time was spent chewing, and how each was weighed. In the experiment first each member of the group took a different piece of gum and wrote down what kind it was. Then they massed the gum and wrapper. After that they began to chew for two minutes. During this time no one was supposed to speak or deter from their chewing. At the end of the two minutes the gum was promptly taken out and placed on the wrapper, then quickly massed. The mass of each gum was written down. This process continued for four more times, at four minutes, six minutes, at eight minutes, and at ten minutes. Next the original mass and the final mass were compared and the total amount of mass lost was found. Then the percent of mass lost was found after that. All results were written down.

Data and Results:

The results of the experiment were that of the following. The most Mass lost was from that of Bubble Yum with 5.9g. Bubblious lost 4.7g, Double Bubble lost 3.6g, and Carefree lost 1.3g. The percentage of mass lost was different however. Although Bubble Yum had the most percentage lost with 70 percent, Double Bubble had 69 percent. Bubblious lost 63 percent, and Carefree lost 52 percent. During the experiment there were some uncontrolled variables. The group talked, laughed, stopped chewing, lost gum in the wrapper or got it stuck in teeth, and changed rate of chewing. These variable may have changed the outcome of the experiment.

Analysis:

In the experiment Bubble Yum had the most overall losses in mass and percentage and Carefree had the least losses in mass and percentage. Also Bubble Yum was the heaviest and Carefree was the lightest. This shows that the heaviest gum loses the most mass and percentage of mass while the lightest gum loses the least mass and least percentage of mass. This happens because there is more sugar in the Bubble Yum then in any other and sugar weighs heavily and is taken out of the gum when chewed. This is why Carefree, who was sugarless, and the least losses.

Conclusion:

Mass is the amount of matter inside an object, and matter is inside everything. Mass is different from weight because weight is how heavily an object is pulled down by gravitational force, that is why on different planets, weight changes but mass does not. The hypothesis in this experiment was that the mass would decrease by 25 percent. This was chosen on a guess considering the fact that gum has sugar in it. This hypothesis was proven half correct for although the mass did decrease it was by a much greater amount then originally thought. The ingredient in gum that causes this change is that of sugar. While being chewed this ingredient is absorbed by the mouth from the gum. The mass of each type of gum changed differently but in a similar way. Every gum greatly decreased for the first two minutes and then began to level out only losing sometimes a gram in the 8 minute and ten minute measurements. When using a scale to measure you must remember three things, one is that you should make sure the scale starts on zero, two is that you should not move the scale and treat it with respect, and three is that you should observe the measurements at eye-level. This lab was important to the outside world beside simple facts. It was found that gum loses mass when it is chewed, only loses a certain amount of mass, the heavier the gum the more loss of mass, gum has sugar in it, and lastly that sugarless gum loses less mass. It can be used in the world by a dentist to tell kids what kinds of gum are best to chew, and which are bad to chew.