The idea that my team and I came up with for this experiment is about the energy content of foods. Energy is an important component of food, seeing as our bodies need the energy from food to live and sustain its functions properly. Energy content can be determined by burning a given amount of food and capturing the heat released. This is done by measuring the initial and final temperatures and then using the equation: Heat= (change in)temperature x mass x specific heat capacity(Cp), to calculate the energy released. Dividing the final energy value by grams of food burned gives the energy content of the food.
In this experiment we will use a computer to measure and analyze the data, and a balance for weight measurement. We will then determine the energy content and compare the energy contents of different foods.