Introduction
Melting Chocolate Experiment
Have you ever had a chocolate bar melt all over your hands? Today you will do an experiment and learn about melting chocolate.
Task
1. Melt some chocolate.
2. Observe and watch what is happening.
3. Do some research.
4. Know why chocolate melts at different temperatures.
Process
What you will need:
- White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or 3 different chocolate bars of your own choice
- 3 Paper Plates
- A lamp or some other kind of heat
- Thermometer
Step 1: Answer the following questions before starting your experiment.
- What are you going to use to melt your chocolate?
- What kinds of chocolate will you be using?
- Do you think they will all melt at the same speed? If not which do you think will melt the slowest and fastest? Explain.
Step 2: Melting the chocolate
- Place each chocolate bar on its own plate and start melting.
- Depending on how fast your chocolate is melting, record what is happening every 1-5min until chocolate is completely melted or time is up. (Use the thermometer to see temperature each time you record what is happening.)
Step 3:
- Which chocolate melted first?
- Which chocolate melted second?
- Which chocolate Melted last?
- At what temperature does chocolate go from a solid to a liquid?
- Why do you think the chocolate melted in this order?
- Do some research on why chocolate would melt at different rates.
Step 4: Removing the heat.
Remove heat and let chocolate sit out in room temperature.
- How long did chocolate take to harden back up?
- Which chocolate tool the longest to harden? Do some research
Step 5: Share with your class what happened and what you learned.
Website that might help
http://workathomemums.hubpages.com/hub/Which-Chocolate-Melts-The-Fastes…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqVA5kLnELs
https://prezi.com/axpl5dhf73vr/what-type-of-chocolate-melts-faster/
Evaluation
Did you choose three different types of chocolate?
Did you answer all the questions?
Did you do research?
Did you do a presentation?
Did you explain to your class what happened with your experiment?
Did you share what you learned?
Conclusion
At a certain temperature your chocolate pieces undergo a physical change, from a solid to a liquid (or somewhere in between). On a hot day, sunlight is usually enough to melt chocolate, something you might have unfortunately already experienced. You can also reverse the process by putting the melted chocolate into a fridge or freezer where it will go from a liquid back to a solid. The chocolate probably melted quite fast if you tried putting a piece in your mouth, what does this tell you about the temperature of your body?