Fatima Ramirez
Period 3
11-6-13
Bubble Gum Lab
Background: We all have chewed gum at least once in our life time. Many of us have
weighed ourselves or objects in our past. Gum is a candy that is made of a substance called
chicle mixed with sugar and flavoring. I wonder how much percent of a piece of gum is sugar?
Hypotheses: If I weigh the mass of the gum without chewing it then weigh the mass of the
chewed gum and do all the calculations I will find the percent sugar in a piece of gum.
Procedures:
1. Obtain a piece of wrapped bubble gum. Determine the mass of the gum.
2. Remove the wrapper and chew the bubble gum until all the sugar has
been “swallowed” (about 3-4 min.)
3. Find the mass of the wrapper while you are chewing the gum, but don’t
throw it away.
4. Return the chewed gum to the wrapper and find the mass. (gum absorbs
a tiny amount of water, so it is not necessary to dehydrate it or wait till it
dies).
Results:
Data
Mass of wrapped bubble gum
Mass of gum wrapper
*mass of unchewed gum
Mass of chewed gum on wrapper
Mass of gum wrapper
*mass of chewed gum
Mass of sugar
(mass of unchewed gum-mass of chewed gum)
Group
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Bazooka
5.02
.32
4.7
2.02
.32
1.7
3
% composition sugar
63.3%
45.97%
61.58%
64.7%
45%
50.4%
69.30%
49.49%
55.1%
91%
Double
6.23
.26
5.97
2.01
.26
1.75
4.27
Fatima Ramirez
Period 3
11-6-13
7.
8.
9.
71.24%
60.4%
67.93%
59.35%
42.7%
55.8%
Class mean % sugar
Class median % sugar
480.115/8= 60.014375%
473.135/8= 59.141875%
63.3%
55.8%
Analysis:
1.) Compare your groups % composition sugar to the class mean and median. Should
they be close in value?
They should be close in value because we all chewed the same gum for the same
amount of time.
2.) In this experiment is the mean or median better to use for reporting your class data?
I think it’s better to use the mean for reporting our class data
3.) What is the molar mass of sugar C12H22O11?
The molar mass is 342.30 g/mol
4.) Calculate the percent error in your experimental value.
5.) % Error= 6.3 and 22.03
I was successful in my lab even though I finished late. My data was a little off but I did my lab
safely. My results were 63.8% and 71.5%.I was off by 6% on the bazooka bubble gum and 22%
off in the Double bubble gum. Next time I can be more cautious when I weigh the gum and do
my percentages quicker because I didn’t get to put it in the class data. In all, my lab was a
successes.