THE STUDY OF GUMMY BEARS SOAKED IN DIFFERENT LIQUIDS FOR ABSTRACT

THE STUDY OF GUMMY BEARS SOAKED IN DIFFERENT LIQUIDS FOR
DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF TIME
Emily Grimm
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine how much gummy bears grew in different
liquids, and heats. The introduction explains how a gummy bear expands in different
liquids because it absorbs the liquids, causing the gummy bear to swell. Gummy bears
were put in to different liquids and different heats. The materials and method section
talks about the experiments that were conducted. The gummy bears grew in all of the
liquids, except corn starch, and the gummy bears would only grow in room temperature
liquids. In the results and discussion, it shows what has happened to the gummy bears.
The liquid was absorbed by the gummy bear, causing them to expand in the liquid. In
the hot and cold water, the bear was room temperature and when put in to different
heats; it didn’t have the capability to grow.
INTRODUCTION
Gummy bears are a yummy, sweet, sticky treat that many people enjoy. They are a
popular treat that many people know and love. The main ingredients that go in to a
gummy bear are starch, gelatin, sugar, and corn syrup. Gelatin is rendered from the
skin, cartilage, and bones of animals. To make gummy bears these ingredients are
weighed, mixed, and pumped into a special candy cooker. This candy cooker is 128 foot
long stainless steel coil. It cooks candy by steam outside of the coil. Then the cooker
pumps the gummy into a vacuum chamber. This chamber removes excess moisture.
From the vacuum chamber the gummy goes to a mix station. Here colors, flavors, acids,
and fruit concentrates are mixed into the gummy starch. Next the gummy candies are
put into a machine called Mogul. Mogul is a starch molding machine that pumps starch
into mold boards that shape the gummy candies. After drying the gummies, they are
removed from the molds and packaged, delivered, and sold.
In gummy bears there is a large amount of sugar. There is also lots of sugar in the
human body. Sugar can affect the human body in many ways. Some of the affects that
sugar produces are good and some are bad. One of the good things that sugar does for
the human body is; it creates energy and goes into the body. Humans need energy to
function, and one of the best ways to get it is from sugar. Though it is good to eat sugar,
it is not good to eat too much of it. People don’t eat gummy bears to get sugar though;
they eat them because they are a tasty treat. The sugar flows in the blood stream at a
slower absorption rate, which is healthy for the human body. The bad thing about sugar
is that sometimes people eat way too much of it. This can affect the human body, and
this is not healthy. Since one of the gummy bear’s main ingredients is sugar, people
may eat more than they are supposed to. Having too much sugar in a human’s body is
may be bad, and can cause sickness. If lots of sugar is injected into one’s body, that
can cause stomach aches and can make people feel nauseous and gross. Since there
is lots of sugar in a gummy bear, it is good to only eat the right amount of gummy bears.
Eating to many can be very harming to one’s body, because of the amount of sugar.
When gummy bear candies are put into water they expand. This is because of
absorption and swelling. Swelling is the enlargement of a body part or organ beyond its
normal size and usually causes a distortion of the shape and structure of the affected
area. Substances in the gummy bear that give it solidity are glucose, starch and gelatin.
All of these substances can absorb water. However, while water can be absorbed, the
starch and gelatin are prevented from dissolving in water. The water molecules flow in
to the gummy bear, causing it to swell. There are many ways for the water to go in to
the gummy bear; however there are only a few ways for the water to flow out of the
gummy. This makes the gummy bear swell, not keep its size or dissolve. This
concludes, making the water swell the gummy bear rather than dissolving it.
Figure 1- This explains the procedure of osmosis, diffusion, absorption and swelling.
This leads to osmosis and diffusion. Osmosis and diffusion are the main part to what the
gummy bear does in the water. When the gummy bear is placed in to a liquid for
different amounts of time water flows in and out of the gummy bear. Diffusion is the
movement of molecules from and area of high concentration to an area with low
concentration. Diffusion proceeds this process until the two areas are equal. Diffusion
only occurs in gasses and liquids. Osmosis is water diffusion. Meaning, that it is
diffusion in water. Osmosis only occurs in water. Osmosis is the diffusion of water,
because of this it is the movement of water molecules to an area with a low
concentration of molecules. Diffusion and Osmosis makes the gummy bear swell.
The hypothesis for this experiment was that Hawaiian Punch would make the gummy
bear grow the most. This was because the Hawaiian Punch had most sugar out of all of
the liquids. It was thought that sugar would make the gummy bear expand. This was
thought because there is so much sugar in a gummy bear that it would absorb it
quickest, and Hawaiian punch had the most sugar out of all of the different liquids used
in the experiment.
Sindhoor Ambati did an experiment on the study of time affecting marshmallow size.
This was almost the same as growing gummy bears; however it was growing
marshmallows in the microwave. In this experiment she added water to them and with
each drip had a different result.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
The materials used in this experiment were, a hot plate, gummy bears, Hawaiian punch,
diet coke, corn syrup, water, V8 vegetable juice, cups, beakers, and thermometer.
A gummy bear was placed in 200 mL of water for 5, 10, and 15 min. The gummy bear
was immediately taken out after each time frame and put next to a ruler and measured.
It was then weighed. For each time period this process repeated two more times.
For the first follow up experiment, a gummy bear was placed in to different liquids such
as, Diet Coke, Hawaiian Punch, Water, and V8 vegetable juice. It was soaked in 200
mL. The gummy bear was soaked in each of these liquids for ten min. It was then taken
out immediately and placed next to a ruler, and measured. It was then immediately
weighed. This process was repeated three times for each juice, or liquid.
For the second follow up experiment, gummy bears were placed in Hawaiian Punch, V8
vegetable juice, and Diet Coke for different amounts of time. They were placed in each
of these liquids for 10 min, 30 min, 1 day, and 3 days. After each time period they were
immediately taken out to be measured and weighed. This process was repeated two
more times for each time period, and each juice
For the third follow up experiment, gummy bears were placed into 200 mL of hot, 40
degrees Water, for ten min. They were also placed in room temperature water and cold
water for ten min. After ten min they were taken out of the water, and measured and
weighed. Then this process repeated with Hawaiian Punch, to test if it had the same
results as the hot and cold water did. This process with hot, cold, and room temperature
water and Hawaiian Punch was done three times for each. And then an average was
taken.
RESULTS
A gummy bear weighed the least when put in water for 5 min. It grew the most then put
in for 15. This is because it had more time to expand. A gummy bear cannot absorb lots
of water for 5 or 10 min. This is because it needs time to be able to absorb the liquid.
When placed in water for only 5 or 10 min., it is still getting used to the water, and does
not have much time after getting used to the water.
1.2
Weight gained (g)
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
The amount of time (min)
Figure 2 The weight of the gummy bear, according to the amount of time put in to the water.
The least weight was gained when the bear was put into the water for five min. The
most weight gained was when the bear was put in to the water for 15 min. This is
because it could not absorb, (to make it weigh more) as much in a smaller time frame.
The reason that it only grew little bits in the smaller time periods is because it didn’t
have enough time to absorb. When it absorbs, it grows bigger and weighs more than
when it first did.
The Amount of growth (mm)
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
The amount of time (min)
Figure 3 the amount the gummy bear grew, according to the amount of time put in water.
The gummy bear weighed the most in water after a time period of ten min. The gummy
bear grew the least in V8 and Corn Syrup. The reason it didn’t grow at all in V8
vegetable juice and Corn Syrup is because the liquids are both thicker than the other
liquids, making it harder to absorb. The gummy has corn starch in it, so it is also hard
for it to absorb more of it.
Weight gained (g)
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Diet Coke
Hawaiin
Punch
Water
Corn Syrup
V8
Liquid soaked in (mL)
Figure 4 the amount the gummy bear weighed, according to different liquids.
The gummy bear grew most in the Diet Coke. It grew the least in Corn Syrup. It grew
the most in Diet Coke because it is very sugary, and thin, this makes it rather easy for
Growth (mm)
the bear to absorb. The corn syrup is too thick for the gummy to absorb in a little time.
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Diet Coke
Hawaiin
Punch
Water
Corn Syrup
Liquid soaked in (mL)
Figure 5 the amount the gummy bear grew, according to different liquids.
V8
The gummy bear weighed the most in water after 72 hours. The gummy bear weighed
the least after being in Hawaiian punch for 10 min. This is because when put in a liquid
for a long amount of time, it gives the bear more time to absorb, making the bear bigger
and weigh more.
16
Amount grew (g)
14
12
10
8
Vegetable Juice
6
Hawaiian Punch
4
Water
2
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Amount of time placed in different liquids (min)
Figure 6 the growth increase, according to the different times and liquids.
The gummy bear grew most in the vegetable juice for 72 hours. The gummy bear grew
the least when in Hawaiian Punch for ten min. The reason was because it was a long
time period, and longer gives the bear more time to absorb the liquid.
Height after time periods (mL)
8
7
6
5
4
Vegetable Juice
3
Hawaiian Punch
2
Water
1
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Amount of time placed in different liquids (min)
Figure 7 the gained weighed, according to the different liquids and times.
The gummy bears grew the most in regular water. It grew the least in the hot and cold
water. The reason for this is because if the gummy bear is room temperature and is
placed into hot or cold water, the gummy bear isn’t use to this and takes a while to get
used to it. It gets used to room temperature water because it is the same temperature
as the bear is.
0.72
0.7
Amount grew (g)
0.68
0.66
0.64
0.62
0.6
0.58
0.56
0.54
Normal
Cold Water
Hot Water
Regular Water
Temperature of water (F)
Figure 8 the amount grown according to different temperature of the water.
DISCUSSION
In the first experiment, the gummy bears grew larger as time increased, but as time
increased more, the gummy bears stopped growing. This is because after a while the
gummy bear has absorbed so much liquid that it is full and is unable to absorb more.
When a gummy bear was placed in a liquid, the liquid was absorbed into the gummy
bear causing it to expand. As the time increased the gummy bear grew bigger,
absorbing more because it had enough time to. There were many ways for the liquid to
get into the bear, but not many ways to get out. Once the gummy candy was out of
water, if not measured and weighed quickly enough, the bear will start to become
smaller. This is not a quick process though. The liquid wanted to get out of the bear, but
because of the speed that the gummy was absorbing the liquid, it took a while. In
conclusion, the gummy bear expanded as time in increased, but as time increased
more, it stayed the same, because it couldn’t absorb any more.
In the 1st follow-up, the gummy bear was placed in to 200 mL of water, Hawaiian punch,
Diet Coke, and Corn Syrup. In almost every liquid, the gummy bear grew larger with few
min, but not a ton. This may be because it didn’t have time to absorb the liquid. The
gummy did not grow a lot because it could not absorb lots of water in a small amount of
time. When more time was added the gummy bear grew larger. In conclusion, the gummy
bear is almost always affected by being in the liquid. It does not have a dramatic impact of
the size and weight when put in for minimum amounts of time.
In the 2nd follow-up, the gummies were put into Hawaiian punch, water, and V8
vegetable juice. They were put in to these liquids for different times. The gummy bears
grew and weighed more with more time. In some of the liquids, the bear weighed more,
but barley grew. A reason for this was because it didn’t grow tall; it absorbed, and grew
wide. This made it weigh more, but not grow as much. In conclusion, water, Hawaiian
punch, and V8 vegetable juice helps expansion and weight to some extent however,
sometimes they weigh more than they have grown because of the way that they gummy
bear absorbed the liquid.
In the 3rd follow-up, the gummy bear grew larger when the room in the temperature
rather than the cold or hot water. This reason is because the hot and cold water was
different to the room temperature bear. When the bear was placed into different
temperatures, it isn’t use to it, and ten minutes wasn’t enough to give the bear time to
do much. This is why the gummy didn’t react to the different temperatures. In
conclusion, the cold and hot water didn’t affect the gummy bear, because when a room
temperature gummy bear was placed into a hot or cold liquid, it isn’t use to it and didn’t
have time to do much.
CONCLUSION:
The gummy bear got larger and weighed more. After about 24 hours it stopped growing,
because it couldn’t absorb anymore. When put in to all of the liquids for 10, 30, 24
hours, and 72 hours, it grew. In the 10 and 30 minute time period it didn’t grow as much
because it didn’t have enough time to. In the hot and cold water, the bear didn’t grow at
all and in the room temperature it grew though. The hypothesis was proven incorrect; it
was thought that the gummy would grow the most in the Hawaiian Punch. This was
wrong because it grew the most in the water; the reason for this is because the water
doesn’t have tons and tons of sugar or artificial flavoring, making it easy for the gummy
bear to absorb. A follow up experiment could be, would a gummy worm do the same
thing? If a gummy bear is made out of different substances, then it may be possible for
them to not grow, or to grow more.
Sindhoor Ambati discovered that when more time is added the marshmallows grew in
the micro- wave. She also realized that after too long, they deflated and didn’t grow
anymore.
CITATIONS
Albano, Catherine M. "What makes gummy bears sticky?." eHow Food. Demand Media,
Inc., 1999. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
Bellis, Marry. "The History Of Gummy Candy." Ask.com Inventors . The New York
Times Company, 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
Dr. Chris. "What is Swelling? Definition and Causes of Swelling." HealthHype.com.
2006. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
H., Lauren. "Gummy Bears in Water." Newton Ask a Scientist!. Andrew Skipor, Feb.
2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
Knight, Judson. Science of Everyday Things. Volume 1. Detroit: 2002. Print.
McGrath, Kimberly A. The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Volume 2. Detrroit: Stacy
Blachford, 2001. Print.
St.Cyr, Linda . "How Does Sugar Affect The Human Body?." eHow Health. Demand
Media, Inc., 1999. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
Ophardt, Charles E. "INTERMOLECULAR FORCES: HYDROGEN BONDING."Virtual
Chembook. Elmhurst Collage , 2003. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.
"osmosis." Compton's by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
<http://school.eb.com/comptons/article-9276223>.