Determination of the Number of M&M in a Bag and Determination of the Density of Chocolate
Yuan Lin, Brian Wladkowski, and Maya Zayats
Data Collected: September 2, 2014 2:50pm
Purpose:
The purpose of this research is to try and answer two important questions regarding M&M candies. Namely, to determine the number of M&Ms in a snack sized bag without opening it, and secondly to determine the density of M&M chocolate.
Methods:
There where several methods used to try and determine the number of M&M in the bag. Initially, a direct counting approach was used but it was quickly discovered that this led to counting errors after multiple attempts gave inconsistent results.
A second strategy, which proved more consistent, utilized mass measurements …show more content…
Chocolate is a general term used to describe a complex mixture of ingredients.1 Most chocolate contains various complex sugars, coco butter, milk as well as other trace ingredients. Therefore, the question cannot be answered directly. In this study we attempted to answer a related question to get an estimate for the density of chocolate, namely, “what is the density of M&M candies”. Since the M&Ms are coated with a candy shell, even the determination of the density of an M&M is only an approximation to the density of chocolate. As seen in the data section the volume of different groups of M&Ms ranging from 10-15 was determined using the method of displacement along with the determination of the mass of each group. Densities were then calculated and statistical analysis applied. The final result from the analysis gave a density for M&M candies to be 1.4±0.2 g/ml. This value is consistent with that reported in the literature of 1.325 g/ml.2 This result is also consistent with the fact that M&Ms sink in water. It is somewhat surprising that the density is so high given that chocolate has a high fat content and fats are known to have low densities and generally float in water. The higher density of chocolate is likely a result of the large percentage of sugar it
Yuan Lin, Brian Wladkowski, and Maya Zayats
Data Collected: September 2, 2014 2:50pm
Purpose:
The purpose of this research is to try and answer two important questions regarding M&M candies. Namely, to determine the number of M&Ms in a snack sized bag without opening it, and secondly to determine the density of M&M chocolate.
Methods:
There where several methods used to try and determine the number of M&M in the bag. Initially, a direct counting approach was used but it was quickly discovered that this led to counting errors after multiple attempts gave inconsistent results.
A second strategy, which proved more consistent, utilized mass measurements …show more content…
Chocolate is a general term used to describe a complex mixture of ingredients.1 Most chocolate contains various complex sugars, coco butter, milk as well as other trace ingredients. Therefore, the question cannot be answered directly. In this study we attempted to answer a related question to get an estimate for the density of chocolate, namely, “what is the density of M&M candies”. Since the M&Ms are coated with a candy shell, even the determination of the density of an M&M is only an approximation to the density of chocolate. As seen in the data section the volume of different groups of M&Ms ranging from 10-15 was determined using the method of displacement along with the determination of the mass of each group. Densities were then calculated and statistical analysis applied. The final result from the analysis gave a density for M&M candies to be 1.4±0.2 g/ml. This value is consistent with that reported in the literature of 1.325 g/ml.2 This result is also consistent with the fact that M&Ms sink in water. It is somewhat surprising that the density is so high given that chocolate has a high fat content and fats are known to have low densities and generally float in water. The higher density of chocolate is likely a result of the large percentage of sugar it