Peanut Lab

Title: Peanut Lab

Purpose: To calculate the number of calories in a peanut.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that there will be 3 calories in a peanut, 7 calories in a cheeto, and 4 calories in a marshmallow.

Materials: Peanut, Cheeto, Marshmallow (or other food of choice), thermometer, lighter, beaker, big can, little square of foil with pin stuck through it, and Bunsen Burner.

Procedure:

Step 1: Set up Bunsen Burner (ring stand) with beaker in holder and thermometer in beaker.

Step 2: Put peanut or food of choice on pin. Place under beaker and light.

Step 3: Record temperature at time of lighting and again when the fire burns out.

Step 4: To calculate the number of calories, take the difference between the burn out temperature and the start temperature, then multiply times 100. (It takes one calorie to move one gram of water one degree. You will be moving 100 grams of water, so you must multiply the difference by 100.)

Data:

Conclusion: We found that there were 800 calories in a peanut, 700 calories in a Cheeto, and 200 calories in a marshmallow. We thought that this was a very high number until we learned that to find the number of food calories, you divide the number of calories by 1000. Additionally, we found that this experiment works very well to find data, but only if you use flammable food.

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