Lab #4

Analysis of Food Dyes in Beverages

Sophia Whitesel
Mrs. Haberman
AP Chemistry pd. 5
October 4, 2016
Objective
The concentration of the dye present in Gatorade is to be determined by using a
spectrophotometer, wavelength, transmittance, and absorption.

Introduction

There are many different types of wavelengths which are visible between 350 and 800 units.
Some examples of wavelengths are: cosmic rays, gamma rays, x-rays, infrared rays, radio waves,
and electric waves. The visible color wavelengths range from violet (blue, green, yellow, orange)
to red. “The white light is a mixture of the colors of the visible spectrum. Black is a total absence
of light” (http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov). Violet has the smallest waves and red has the largest
waves. “A spectrophotometer is an instrument that shines a single wavelength of light of a
known intensity into a solution and then measures the intensity of the light exiting the solution. If
a solution contains any compound that absorbs light, the intensity of light exiting the solution
will be less than what entered the solution. On the other hand, if none of the compounds in the
solution absorb at that wavelength of light, then the intensity of the light exiting the solution will
be the same as that entering” (faculty.ccbcmd.edu).

Materials
FD&C Blue 1 stock solution (50-mL), Blue consumer sports drink (10mL), distilled water, nine
test tubes, two to three 50-mL beakers, 10-mL pipet (serological), pipet bulb or pipet filler,
spectrophotometer, and test tube rack.

Procedure
First, students took nine test tubes. The test tubes were each filled with the directed amount of
distilled water and stock solution (solution A: 0mL of water and 10mL of stock solution, solution
B: 2mL of water and 8mL of stock solution, solution C: 4mL of water and 6mL of stock solution,
solution D: 6mL of water and 4mL of stock solution, solution E: 7mL of water and 3mL of stock
solution, solution F: 8mL of water and 2mL of stock solution, solution G: 9mL of water and 1mL
of stock solution, solution H: 10mL of water and 0mL of stock solution, Gatorade solution: 0mL
of water and 10mL of blue Gatorade), and then placed in the test tube rack. Next, the students set
up the spectrophotometer. The wavelength was set to 630. One by one, each of the test tubes was
placed in the spectrophotometer. The absorbance and concentration of the solution was then
recorded.

The picture above shows the solutions that were used to obtain the data for this experiment.
Results

Calculations:
M1V1=M2V2
Concentration of Solution A= 7uM
Concentration of Solution B= (7)(8)/10= 5.6uM
Concentration of Solution C= (7)(6)/10= 4.2uM
Concentration of Solution D= (7)(4)/10= 2.8uM
Concentration of Solution E= (7)(3)/10= 2.1uM
Concentration of Solution F= (7)(2)/10= 1.4uM
Concentration of Solution G= (7)(1)/10= 0.7uM
Concentration of Solution H= (7)(0)/10= 0uM

Conclusion
Based on the graphs obtained from the lab, the optimum liner-relationship or calibration curve
for the graph representing the stock solution and the blue Gatorade is y=0.0308x. The dyes
present in the beverage was Blue 1 food dye. This proves that the absorbance measurements
were accurately obtained by the group because that value of .298 is between .2 and 1.0. This can
be proven by using a spectrophotometer. The absorbance recorded is between the range of 0 to
0.3. The point at zero represents the solution without the stock solution and and the Gatorade had
an absorbance of 0.3. The concentration was found to be .298 micro-molar and .236mg/L.

Literature Cited

"Experiment 3: Concentration in Gatorade." CCBC Faculty Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.

"What Wavelength Goes With a Color." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.