The Criminal
Behind Soda
Scientists: Camryn H, Malinah J and Jason B.
How does the type of
soft drink you drink
affect your tooth
enamel ?
•Phosphoric acid is used in cleaning products to break down grease and
rust.
•Shells from boiled eggs have calcium amounts similar to tooth enamel.
Margles, Samantha. Mythbusters Science Fair Book. New York: Scholastic,
2011. Print.
•Soda can erode tooth enamel.
•Tooth enamel is the protective layer of your tooth and soda destroys it.
Enamel is the hardest substance in your body.
http://www.brainpop.com/health/bodysystems/teeth/preview.weml
• Sugar and acid (citric and phosphoric ) cause tooth enamel damage.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/4health-side-effects-of-diet-soda.html
We think if a boiled egg sits in a cup of
Sprite, Coca-Cola, and Diet Coke. Then we
believe that the egg will erode most in the
Diet Coke. That is because Diet Coke has
both phosphoric acid and citric acid. While
Sprite only has citric acid. And Coca-Cola
only has phosphoric acid. Therefore, Diet
Coke will erode the egg more.
Independent
Type of soda
Dependent
Egg erosion
Controlled
• The amount of soda in each cup
•Time egg sits in soda
•Same amount of eggs in each cup of soda
• Same beakers used to pour soda
• same type of cups
• one 2 liter bottle of Sprite,
Diet Coke and Coca-Cola
•Fifteen 9 ½ cm by 4 ½ cm
plastic cups
• 15 hard boiled eggs
•data sheet
• 1 dipper (from Easter egg kit)
or a plastic spoon
• 3 rulers
• 3 pieces of yarn (enough to
wrap around each egg)
• two 150 ml beakers
•One permanent marker
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Label the three cups with each type of soda and trial in permanent marker.
Pour 150 milliliters of the sprite into 5 cup, diet coke in to another 5 and then the cocacola into the last 5 cups.
Wrap the piece of ribbon around each egg tightly
Pinch where the two ends of yarn meet
Unwrap the yarn until straight ( still pinch where the end meet)
Measure the length of the string ( from end to where you are pinching using centimeters)
Record on data sheet and repeat steps 3-6 on the rest of the eggs
Place one hard boiled egg into each cup of soda
Record the time you put the eggs in, and wait 24 hours.
Take the dipper or plastic spoon and remove each egg from the cup
wrap the yarn around the eggs and repeat steps 4-6
Dump the soda out of the cup into a sink
Repeat steps 1-12 four more times
Take the egg circumference from before the eggs were put in soda and subtract it from the
egg circumference after it was put in the soda for each type of soda
Add up the scores of the circumferences for each different soda and divide that by 5
Whichever soda has the greatest mean is the one that eroded the egg the most
Effect of Soda on Erosion of Teeth (Egg Shells)
Trial 1
Trial 2
Type of
Soda
Sprite
Trial 5
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
14.1
13.5
12.2
12.2
12.9
11.9
14.6
13.4
13.9
12.9
14.3
13.2
-1.1
Coca- Cola
Trial 4
Egg Circumference (cm)
-1.1
Diet Coke
Trial 3
14.2
13.7
-0.5
-0.0
14.3
13.5
-0.8
12.5
12.2
-0.5
-1
13.2
-1.2
12.5
-0.7
14.6
12.2
-2.3
12.2
12.2
-0.0
14.5
12.8
-1.7
-0.86
-1
13.3
12.8
-0.62
-1
13.2
Average
Decrease in Egg’s
Circumference
(cm)
12.5
-0.7
-1.1
Effect of Soda Erosion on Teeth
Erosion (centimeters)
2.5
2
Sprite
1.5
Diet
Coke
1
CocaCola
0.5
0
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
We tested sodas effect on tooth enamel and used eggs
instead of teeth. We put eggs in cups of Sprite, Diet-Coke and
Coca-Cola. We waited 24 hours then measured the amount of
erosion. We found out that the average amount of erosion of eggs
in Sprite was 0.86cm, Diet-Coke was the least at 0.62cm, and
Coca-Cola was the most eroded at 1.1cm. Coca-Cola did the
most damage. When we took the eggs out Sprite had no color
change. Diet-Coke turned the egg to the darkest brown color and
the eggs in Coca-Cola changed to the dark brown but not as dark
as diet. The eggs in Coca-Cola felt rough but the other two stayed
smooth.Yes there was a relationship because the different soda
eroded differently on the eggs.
Our scientific claim was not supported because we thought
Diet-Coke did the most damage but Coca-Cola did the most damage.
One thing I can infer from my experiment is sugar causes more
damage then acid. Or maybe it’s a combination of sugar and
phosphoric acid, since Coca-Cola has phosphoric acid and 39 grams of
sugar. So Coca-Cola did the most damage. In this experiment, I
found out that different types of soda you drink effects your tooth
enamel differently. The data showed that Coca-Cola did the most
damage. It had phosphoric acid and 39 grams of sugar. Compared to
Sprite which has citric acid and 38 grams of sugar. And Diet Coke has
phosphoric acid and citric acid and 0 grams of sugar, and did the least
damage. I would also like to find out is how much acid is in each soda?
Are there other soda’s that damage your teeth more than Coca-Cola?
Before the eggs were put in soda:
After the eggs were put in soda: