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Food Calorimetry: How Much Energy Is in a Snack?

Burn a snack under a can of water, measure the temperature rise, and compare the energy you capture with the label.

Grade 10ExperimentScience OlympiadScienceChemistryEnergyMeasurementAdvanced60 to 90 min9 materialsAdult supervision required

What you'll learn

  • Calculate heat energy from a temperature change
  • Convert between joules and calories
  • Identify and quantify sources of heat loss

Objective

Use q = m c delta T to calculate the energy released by burning a snack, and explain the gap between your result and the label.

STEM concepts

CalorimetrySpecific heat capacityCombustionEnergy conservation
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