Lab on Food Energy

Question: Amount of energy given out by tested food samples when heated.

Aim: To see how much energy different food samples (Peanuts, Corn, Almonds, Beans and
Chips) give out when heated over a Bunsen burner completely.

Hypothesis: In this experiment I expect almonds and peanuts to release the most energy as
they are the most ‘fattening’ foods out of all the samples.

Apparatus: Stand, 2 measuring tubes, 1cimmersable digital thermometer, 1cweighing

balance, 5 different food samples, 1 petri-dish, 1 wire gauze, 1 Bunsen burner, 1 measuring
cylinder, tap water, 1 spatula, 1 tripod stand.

Independent Variable: Food sample.

Dependant Variable: Energy.

Control: 30ml of water in the measuring tube, and a constant mass of food samples for all
food samples, change water in the measuring tube for each time the procedure is repeated.

Method/Procedure: Take a small amount of the food sample and take out a petri dish. Put
the digital weighing balance on and place the petri dish on top of it. ‘Tear’ the weighing
balance, so the weighing balance cancels out the weight of the petri dish and goes to 0gms.
This way, only the weight of the food sample on the petri dish will be weighed. Note down
the weight shown on the balance on a sheet of paper as ‘Initial Mass’. Take 30 ml of water in
a measuring tube with the help of a measuring cylinder to measure the volume of water. Fit
the measuring tube to a stand and place the probe of the thermometer in the water, making
sure no part of it is in contact with the walls of the measuring tube. Record the temperature
shown in the thermometer as ‘Initial Temperature’.

Place the food sample on the wire gauze and light the flame on the burner. Place the burner
directly under the wire gauze holding the food sample so that the sample can catch fire. Let
the food sample burn for some time and as soon as it’s on fire, quickly place the wire gauze
(which is sitting on a tripod stand) with the burning samples under the measuring tube
containing water. The temperature will be shown to keep rising as the food releases energy.

Once the fire burns out, try re-lighting it with the burner, so that all the energy can be given
out. Once all the energy is given out, record the temperature of the water as ‘Final
Temperature’. Then carry the burnt food sample in a petri dish to the weighing balance and
place the empty petri dish on it, ‘tear’ it, and place the burnt food sample. Note down the
mass as ‘Final Mass’. Repeat this procedure with all samples 3 times each, remembering to
change the water in the measuring tube each time the experiment is repeated.
Data Collection: Raw Data, Initial and Final Temperatures, and Initial and Final
Masses.

Food Initial Final Change Initial Final Change

Type Weight Weight (g) Temperature Temperatur (°c)
(g) (g) (°c) e (°c)
Peanut 0.50 0.11 0.39 24.3 52.2 27.9
0.43 0.09 0.34 26.4 42.3 15.9
0.48 0.21 0.27 27.3 46.4 19.1

Corn 0.18 0.07 0.11 30.4 32.4 2

0.24 0.11 0.13 31 33 2
0.21 0.09 0.12 30.2 33.1 2.9

Almond 1.02 0.43 0.59 30.6 65 34.4

0.96 0.19 0.77 31.2 76 44.8
1.07 0.24 0.83 30.2 72 41.8

Kidney 0.50 0.15 0.35 25.5 38.6 13.1

Bean
0.47 0.11 0.36 25.7 38.1 12.4
0.51 0.09 0.42 26 38 12

Chip 0.49 0.12 0.37 27.3 43.1 15.8

0.52 0.09 0.43 27.8 41.5 13.7
0.51 0.10 0.41 28.1 42.8 14.7

Calculations:

From each sample, calculate the difference of each temperature and mass, Initial Temp. –
Final Temp. and Initial Mass – Final Mass (exclude negative sign wherever it occurs). Once
done for all 3 of the same sample, take the mean of each, i.e. mean of difference of
temperatures and mean of difference of masses in all 3 cases. For example we can take the
peanut food sample. For Peanut (II), difference in temperatures = 30.7-70.9 = 40.2°c whereas
difference in masses = 1.17-0.23 = 0.94g. In the same way, difference in temperatures for
Peanut (II) = 45°c and difference in masses = 0.85g. For Peanut (III), difference in
temperatures = 41°c and difference in masses = 0.88g. Thus now we have to take the mean of
the difference in temperatures, which is equal to (40.2+45+41)/3 and the mean of the masses
which is equal to (0.94+0.85+0.88)/3. Now that we have the means, which are 42.1 (mean
temp.) and 0.89 (mean mass), we have to utilize a formula to find the amount of energy
released. This formula is:

Energy = (Volume of H2O (ml) x Mean Temp. (°c) x Specific Heat Capacity of
H2O)/Mean mass (g)

In the case of peanuts, this would be;

(30 x 21 x 4.2)/0.33

Therefore the energy released = 8018.18 Joules or 8.01 Kilo Joules (1 Kilo Joule (kJ) = 1000
Joules (J)).

Formulas used for calculations:

To find difference in temperature: Initial Temp. – Final Temp. (Not taking into
consideration the negative sign). Let diff. in temp. = dT1, dT2, dT3.

To find difference in mass: Initial Mass – Final Mass. Let diff. in mass = dM1, dM2,
dM3.

To find mean temperature: (dT1 + dT2 + dT3)/3.

To mind mean mass: (dM1 + dM2 + dM3)/3.

To find energy released: = (Volume of H2O (ml) x Mean Temp. (°c) x Specific Heat
Capacity of H2O)/Mean mass (g).

Table 2: Showing differences in Initial and Final Temperature and Masses, with Total
Energy Released after calculations.

Food Sample Mean of diff. in Mean of diff. in Energy (kJ)

Temp. ± 0.2 (°c) Masses ± 0.02 (g)
Peanut 21 0.33 8.01
Corn 2.3 0.12 2.41
Almond 40.3 0.73 6.96
Beans 12.5 0.38 4.14
Chips 14.7 0.41 4.52

Qualitative Analysis:
1) As soon as I put the peanuts to burn, they began to burn within seconds, whereas with
the corn seeds and the bean seeds, it took relatively long to catch fire so I had to wait
for a couple of minutes before I could put them under the water in the measuring tube.
2) When the almonds and peanuts caught fire, they burned for a really long time and did
not need re-flaming often. Also these two samples reached the highest temperatures
while burning and giving out energy to the water. Unlike the corn and bean seeds
which needed to be re-flamed every couple of minutes.
3) The burning flames of the chips, almonds and peanuts were the biggest whereas the
flames of the burning bean and corn seeds were very dwarf-like.
4) The chips did not burn for very long, nor did they re-flame as all the energy had
already been given out. While they were burning, I could also notice the oil oozing
out of them.
5) Also, not all the energy that was released was lost to the water. Lots of the energy
released was also lost to the environment.

45

40

35

30

25
Mean Temp. (°c)
Mean Mass. (g)
20 Energy Released (kJ)

15

10

0
Peanut Corn Almond Beans Chips

Thus from the chart we can see the results were as expected. I expected almonds and
peanuts to give out the most energy and the graph shows us that. Out of these 5 food
samples, peanuts and almonds are also the most fattening out of the 5, and this claim is
supported by the amount of energy these food samples have given out.

Possible Errors in Experiment:

1) Thermometer probe touching walls of the measuring tube.
2) The error in the weighing balance.
3) Energy lost out to the environment.
4) Thermometer not picking up accurate readings due to the environment.
5) Time wasted in moving wire gauze and burning food sample under the water, energy
wasted.
6) Some of the ash from the burnt food sample falling down while moving it to the petri
dish.
7) The measuring tube still being hot after previous sample, thus heating the new water a
bit as it is poured into it, giving an inaccurate reading.