Mastication Lab

 

Purpose:  Determine the percent composition of sugar in different kinds of chewing gum

Procedure:

1.      Obtain a wrapped up piece of gum. Record mass of gum and the wrapper on data table.  DON'T Throw away your wrapper.  You are going to need it to weigh your ABC gum.

2.    Carefully unwrap the gum and place it in your mouth.  Chew out the sugar in the gum. (do not throw out the wrapper!)

3.      After you have swallowed most of the sugar in the gum.  Record mass of ABC (already been chewed) gum and the wrapper on data table.

4.      Record mass of gum on data table.

Data Table

mass of gum  _________________g  

mass of  wrapper _________________g  

mass of ABC gum and wrapper _______________ g  

mass of ABC gum  _______________ g

mass of sugar _______________g (if you subtract the mass of ABC gum from the mass of the gum, you should get the mass of the sugar because that is what is lost when you chew gum)

 

Calculations

 

Use your data table to figure out the following information:

 

% composition of sugar in gum ____________g (% = (grams sugar/total mass of gum) x 100

 

 

Questions:

1.  What is the molar mass of sugar?  (the chemical equation for sugar is:  C12H22O11)  

Do the following questions ONLY if you chewed a sugar gum!

2.  How many moles of sugar were in you gum? (you need to convert grams of sugar into MOLES of sugar - hint, you need the answer to #1)

3.  How many molecules of sugar were in your gum?  

 

Do the following questions ONLY if you chewed a sugar free gum!

2.  The Molar Mass of NutraSweet is 294.3 g/mole.  If you had sugar free gum, how many moles of NutraSweet did you have?

3.  If you had sugar free gum, how many molecules of NutraSweet did you have?