Gummy Bear Lab Report

Claudia Castro
Period 6
September 26, 2014
The Gummy Bear Digital Laboratory Report

Laboratory Experiment Guiding Question
What is the relationship between density and polymer structure?
Density helps determine the mass and volume of a polymer molecule/structured formula.

Beginning Question
What do you think will happen to a Gummy Bear when you put it in water overnight?

Hypothesis
If the Gummy Bear is left in water overnight, it will expand greatly in size, and when held, will give off an
oily substance and feel even squishier than before.

Safety
-No Horesplaying
-Never eat/drink any experiments unless instructed to do so

Tests/Procedures
Materials needed:
-Cup of water
-Gummy bear and Gummy Worm
-Towel

Step One: Choose one gummy bear from the container on your table. Use the equipment available to
measure your gummy bear and record the data in the chart for Day 1.
Measurements
-The length of your gummy bear should be measured from the top of its head to the bottom of its feet
to the nearest tenth of a centimeter.
-Measure the width at the widest point across the back of the bear to the nearest tenth of a centimeter.
-Measure the thickness from the front to the back at the thickest point to the nearest tenth of a
centimeter.
-Calculate the volume by multiplying the length, width, and thickness. Round to the nearest hundredth.
-Measure the mass using a triple-beam balance or other scale to the nearest tenth of a gram.
-Calculate the density by dividing the mass by the volume. Round answer to the nearest hundredth.
Step Two: Put the bear in a cup labeled with your name and class period. Add 50 ml of water to the cup
and allow it to sit overnight. On day 2, remove the gummy bear from the cup of water and use a towel
to dry it off to prevent it from dripping all over the place. Repeat the measurements from step one and
record the data in the correct portion of the chart. Determine the amount of change for each
measurement and record in the chart.
Experiment Data
Gummy Bear Data Table
Day Bear Color Length Width Thickness Volume Mass Density
1 Red 2 cm 1 cm 1 cm 2cm^3 2.562 gm 1.281 gm
2 Pink/Clear 3 cm 1.5 cm 1.5 cm 9 cm^3 8.448 gm .94 gm
Amount of
Change
NA 1 cm .5 cm .5 cm 5 cm 5.886 gm .341 gm

Gummy Worm Data Table
Day Worm
Color
Length Width Thickness Volume Mass Density
1 Red and
Yellow
10.5 cm 1 cm 1 cm 10.5 cm^3 9.496 gm 0.904 gm
2 Pink/Clear 15 cm 1.5 cm 1.5 cm 33.75
cm^3
31.16 gm .923 gm
Amount of
Change
NA 5.5 cm .5 cm .5 cm 23.25 cm 21. 67 gm .0187 gm

Claims
If I put a gummy bear in a cup of water, the gummy bear will expand because of the materials used to
create gummy bears, which is gelatin. Gelatin is a colorless, tasteless water soluble protein. The
gummies are made up of glucose, salt, and more substances. The water in the cup surrounding it will
move into the bear. The bear collects a significant amount of water, causing it to become much larger in
size. Using the data table, the qualitative results show change in color, change in thickness, density,
mass, and volume, including the length as well.
Evidence
Putting the gummy bear and the gummy worm in two separate cups of water, my claim was correct.
Overnight, both the gummy bear and the gummy worm expanded greatly in size due to the absorbency
in both gummies.
Reading and Reflection
1: What is gelatin? Draw a molecular structure.

2: What happens to the structure of the gelatin at the molecular level when you add water to the
gelatin?
My hypothesis was the gummies would expand overnight, causing an increase in the gummies volume
and mass. My hypothesis was correct, for the gummies did increase in size, length, mass, ect. Both
gummies had increasingly larger densities, for overnight they had gotten larger as well.
3: Write a paragraph about the relationship between density and gelatin polymeric structure.
When gummy bears are placed in water, there is diffusion into the polymer matrix. Gelatin is a polymer
that forms large three-dimensional matrices. Through this lab, we see how the gummies placed
overnight have changed greatly in both quantity and quality. Quality-wise, the gummies changed color,
like the gummy bear went from red to a pinkish/clear color. Quantity-wise, however, the gummy worm
expanded in length, from 10.5 cm to 15 cm. In other words, through this lab, we see the relationship of
density and how it affects gelatin through the expansion of the substance.

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Claudia Castro

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