Introduction: What is bubble gum?
Starting in 50 AD, Ancient Greeks were reported to have chewed a substance called mastiche, a
tree resin. It was not until 1869, however, that modern gum was created. New York inventor, Thomas
Adams, was the one who produced the first modern chewing gum. Walter Diemer was the first person
to invent actual bubble gum which was used in the experiment that the class conducted. Although since
then, chewing gum has been developed more and more, the main idea of the gum that people chew
today was technically created over 80 years ago.
In the lab, the group needed to find out if the density of a piece of bubble gum affected the
amount of chomps that could happen in time ranges from 20-60 seconds. Through trials, the group was
able to investigate and find results. Three different types of gum were used in order to come to final
results and figure out whether density and chomps had a direct relation. The conclusion to this
experiment will be later discussed in the results section of the lab report.
Hypothesis:
If the density of the gum is greater, then the gum will be more difficult to chew and therefore,
less chomps will occur in the set time limits.
Materials:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Grape Dubble Bubble
Dubble Bubble Gumballs
Orbit Bubblegum
Scale
Timer
Graduated Cylinder
Water
Calculator
Method:
Step One: Counting chomps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Get a piece of grape Dubble Bubble
Weigh the gum on a scale
Measure the radius and height to later calculate volume
Unwrap the gum and chew the gum for 30 seconds
Use a stopwatch to time 30 seconds
Count the number of chomps you can do in 30 seconds
Record the number of chomps data in table 1 (30 is the time for each trial)
Spit that gum out in a wrapper then the trash
Repeat with grape Dubble Bubble for a total of 5 trials
Repeat steps 1-8 two more times, once for the gumballs and once for the orbit
11. Divide the number of chomps by the 30 seconds to get the speed
12. Record that in data table 1
Step Two: Discovering Speed
1. Get a new piece of bubble gum, unwrap it and start chewing it
2. Use the timer to time 60 seconds
3. Record the number of chomps after 20 seconds, then 40 seconds and then at the end of the
minute in data table 2
4. Divide the number of chomps at 20 seconds by 20, 40 seconds by 40, then 60 seconds by 60 to
get the speed
5. Record that in data table 2
Step Three: Finding Density
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use the mass calculated in number two of step 1
Measure the radius and heights of the bubblegum to find the volume
Divide the mass by the volume
Calculate Density
Record data on a separate sheet of paper
Results:
Table One
Grape Dubble Bubble
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
Chomps
42
48
51
52
50
Time
:30
:30
:30
:30
:30
Speed (chomps/sec)
1.4
1.6
1.7
1.7
1.7
Chomps
54
59
53
61
64
Time
:30
:30
:30
:30
:30
Speed (chomps/sec)
1.8
2.0
1.8
2.0
2.1
Dubble Bubble Gumballs
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
Orbit Bubble Gum
Trial
1
2
3
4
5
Chomps
61
65
64
68
63
Time
:30
:30
:30
:30
:30
Speed (chomps/sec)
2.0
2.2
2.1
2.3
2.1
Table Two
Grape Dubble Bubble
Time (sec)
20s
40s
60s
Chomps
39
68
103
Speed (chomps/sec)
2.0
1.7
1.7
Chomps
33
60
97
Speed (chomps/sec)
1.7
1.5
1.6
Chomps
42
79
117
Speed (chomps/sec)
2.1
2.0
2.0
Dubble Bubble Gum Balls
Time (sec)
20s
40s
60s
Orbit Bubble Gum
Time (sec)
20s
40s
60s
Density Table
Grape Dubble Bubble
Trial
Mass (kg)
Volume (π(r^2)h) (m^3)
Density (kg/m^3)
Mass/volume= density
1
.0067
.0000025
2,680
2
.0067
.0000025
2,680
3
.0066
.0000025
2,640
4
.0064
.00000024
2,670
5
.0067
.0000025
2,680
Mass (kg)
Volume (4/3xπ(r^2))
Density (kg/L^3)
Dubble Bubble Gumball
Trial
Mass/volume=(L^3)
density
1
.0058
.0000005
11,600
2
.0058
.0000005
11,600
3
.0057
.0000005
11,400
4
.0059
.0000005
11,800
5
.0059
.0000005
11,800
Mass (kg)
Volume (lwh) (m^3)
Density (kg/m^3)
Orbit Bubblegum
Trial
Mass/volume= density
1
.0050
.000000567
8,820
2
.0049
.000000586
8,360
3
.0049
.000000567
8,640
4
.0050
.000000567
8,820
5
.0050
.000000586
8,530
Discussion:
After this lab, the group discovered that density does, in fact, affect the number of chomps a
person can get in a certain amount of time but our hypothesis was proven incorrect. From the result,
you can see that the denser a piece of gum is, the easier it is to chew. From calculating the mass and
volume in order to find the density, the denser the gum, the more chomps a person will be able to have.
This is interesting because it would seem that density and thickness are related and one would think
that the thicker an object is, the harder it would be to chew. All in all, there is not really anything
accurate about the group’s hypothesis.
The average speed from part one using the grape Dubble Bubble was calculated by adding up all
of the speeds and then dividing them by 5 due to the fact that there were five trials. The average came
out to 1.62 chomps per minute. For the gumballs, the average speed was 1.94 chomps per second and
the last trial with the bubble gum from Orbit was 2.14 chomps per second.
In the second round of trials where the time was extended to one minute and data was
recorded periodically, the grape Dubble Bubble average speed was 1.8 chomps per second. In the trials
with gumballs, there was an average speed of 1.6 and for the last trial, 2.0.
Comparing the first round of trials with the second rounds, all of the average speeds increased.
There was not a constant rate because the chewer was more excited about the second round and was
racing another chewer, Lily, and therefore, chomping a lot faster than in the first rounds.
The results that the group found were not what they expected. The hypothesis was proven
incorrect and it was concluded that density does not affect the number of chomps in the way that the
group believed that it would. There was nothing that was found that would support that the denser the
piece of gum, the less chomps a person could get.
These results were accurate but not necessarily exact because the timer and chewer were the
same person and therefore the stopwatch could have been started late or stopped late. Human error
does exist in experiments like this so there was no way to assure complete and total accuracy
throughout the entire experiment and from trial to trial.
Another experiment that could be done with bubblegum would be to see how long bubblegum
keeps its flavor. Although it is somewhat subjective it could be an interesting experiment to conduct to
see an average amount of time that bubblegum, as a whole, lasts with good flavor and consistency.
Overall, this lab was very fun and I would recommend doing it again!