Investigation: What Factors Affect a How Fast a Sweet Tart Dissolves?

Materials Needed (not all may be used):

Sweetarts in a variety of colors (Smarties can be substituted)
Beakers or cups
Warm water / Cold water
Vinegar solution (for acidic water)
Scale or ruler for collecting quantitative data

Questions to Consider

Does water temperature affect how quickly the candy dissolves?

Will breaking it into pieces make it dissolve faster?

Does stirring the water affect how fast it dissolves?

Will it dissolve faster in acidic (vinegar) water?

Design the Experiment

Discuss with your lab partner how you will set up your experiment and collect data to answer ONE experimental question.

Have your instructor approve your design before carring it out. Be prepared to collect qualitative and quantitative data during the process.

You may also want to photo-document your experiment to include with your lab report.

Lab Report

1. Write your hypothesis using your question chosen from above. The hypothesis should be written in a complete sentence.

2. List the steps you used to test your hypothesis.

3. Construct a data table to display your results. Include photos or sketches where appropriate.

4. Discuss your conclusions. State clearly what happened and develop an explanation for what you observed. This is also the section you discuss the implications of your findings.

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Other Science Experiments

Sponge Capsules – quick lab using capsules and water (toys) to collect data on how fast the “animals” grow

Plop Plop Fiz Fiz – measure the rate of dissolving in alka-seltzer tablets in both hot and cold water (a basic experiment for introducing the scientific method)

Penny Lab – conduct an experiment on surface tension,  water drops are added to a penny and compared with soapy water

Investigation – Heat Storage and Loss – Use a jar and different types of insulation to explore how heat is lost and which materials are better insulators (Key, TpT)

Making Slime – instructions for creating a polymer with glue and borax