Sunday, September 12, 2010

Marshmallow Eperiment!

September 12, 2010

Marshmallow Experiment.

I chose a marshmallow because it is mainly composed of sugar and jelleton. I wanted to see the changes produced, if any, from nail polish remover, bleach, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and vinegar. When we eat certain foods we don't think about what we are really putting in our body or how it is going to react inside of us. I learned from this experiment that marshmallows are more resistant than I ever thought they were.

Physical Properties...

Volume: 21.21cm^3
Circumference: 9.42cm
Color: Ivory, White
Smell: Sweet, Kinda like Vanilla
Malleability: It can be hammered/squashed into a thin flat sheet and not break.


Chemical Properties...

I dropped a marshmallow in each of these solutions:

Nail Polish Remover:  As soon as I put the marshmallow in the nail polish remover it looked like it started melting but it was really absorbing the acetone and particles of the outer layer started breaking off. The particles that broke off I believe were sugars. I could also see the ity bity pores in the marshmallow
After 10 minutes: The marshmallow got smaller and when I poked it with a pencil it was very gooey and soft kinda like when you melt one over a fire. The outer layers started peeling right off.















Bleach: As soon as I dropped the marshmallow in the bleach it started dissolving, the bleach got foggy and the odor changed significantly. It bubbled on the outside of the marshmallow. It seemed to resist the bleach for the most part at first.
After ten mins: The marshmallow looks like it is sweating. The bleach has eaten a good portion of the marshmallow away, whats left of it has changed colors to a faint yellow
















Alcohol: Its first reaction to the alcohol was the the indention's the marshmallow formed. Tiny particles are VERY slowly coming off. I thought there would be a stronger reaction. I seemed to be eaten away a little bit after 10 mins but not a huge difference or anything. It did become rubbery like the nail polish remover marshmallow.

Hydrogen Peroxide: The first thing I noticed when I put the marshmallow in with the hydrogen peroxide was that it floated. It didn't seem to float in the nail polish remover, bleach, or alcohol. The water barley turned chalky.
After 10 mins: The marshmallow looked a TON bigger.















Vinegar: The Marshmallow also floated in the vinegar.Not much of a reaction, slimy. It didn't absorb the vinegar much at all. It didn't shrink as much as the nail polish remover, bleach, or the alcohol. Its almost doing the same thing the hydrogen peroxide did besides the getting bigger part.


Resulting Volumes:

Marshmallow volume = 21.21cm^3

After being in the certain chemicals the volumes changed.

Hydrogen Peroxide = 32.70cm^3

Nail polish remover = 14.71cm^3

Bleach = 11.21cm^3

Alcohol = 12.46cm^3

Vinegar = 17.84cm^3

I learned through this experiment that if these acids can barley erode this marshmallow then I wonder how bad it is for us to put this food into our bodies and make our bodies try and digest it.
gross....