Monday, September 13, 2010

Finding the physical and chemical properties of a skittle

I chose a skittle as my household object because almost everyone, including me, likes skittles, and they are a very common thing to find in someone's pantry. I also chose a skittle because I learned that sugar burns, and I wondered how a skittle, which is almost completely made out of sugar, would burn.

Physical Properties
1. A skittle has a mass of about 1.134g
2. At room temperature, a skittle is a solid
3. The color of all of the skittles I used for my experiments was yellow
4. Has a smooth surface
5. A hard shell but easily crush able

Chemical Properties
1. A skittle does not react with water, however it does slowly dissolve.
2. When put in vinegar, the skittle did not react, and only dissolved slightly faster than the skittle that was put in the water.
3. A skittle does not catch fire, but it does burn. The skittle melts and bubbles when being burned.


4. When place in soda the skittle bubbles a lot, showing evidence of a chemical reaction. The skittle dissolves faster in the soda than in the water or vinegar, and a waxy lining forms at the top of the soda








5. When the skittle was heated on a pan, it began to melt, bubble, evaporate, change color, and burn all at once. Three of these things show that a chemical reaction has occurred. The final result of all of these processes is a black, shriveled skin.

4 comments:

  1. I liked how while melting the skittle on a frying pan you observed all the different signs of a chemical reaction. I think your observations were very descriptive and helpful when trying to relate to your experiment without actually being there while it occurred

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  2. I really like the idea to use a skittle for this experiment. Also, I think it would have been helpful if you explained why it dissolved faster in the vinegar, and then why it dissolved faster in the soda. Under the physical properties, I think you could have used the word malleable instead of crushable, but either way it is perfectly understandable. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the blog post, and I think that your ideas were very creative!

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  3. Hey Ryan!! Yum – I love skittles!!! Great Job!! I enjoyed your descriptions of the chemical properties. They were thorough and were easy to understand. Possibly, you could have included more pictures to help better document what exactly happens when these actions are performed on skittles. Last, good job at identify chemical changes by looking for the signs of a chemical change that we were taught.

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  4. I love the time you guys take into this i am actually doing a writing prompt about any topic of phisical and chemical change this would be perfect thnk you for encoureging us with these thoughts!!! goodbye!!

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