Purpose:

The purpose of this experiment is to see which substance or mixture of substances best
preserves a slice of apple to simulate the mummification process used in Ancient Egypt.

Hypothesis:
Students will need to research the substances used in the experiment to predict which individual
substance or mixture will best preserve a slice of apple.

Materials per class:

6 disposable cups
an apple
apple slicer
measuring cups
spoons
marker to label cups
table salt
Epsom salt
baking soda

Procedure:
1) Label the 6 cups with the class period and what the cup contains.
a) Control- just the apple slice
b) Table Salt- cup of table salt & an apple slice
c) Epsom Salt- cup of Epsom salt & an apple slice
d) Baking Soda- cup of baking soda & an apple slice
e) Table & Epsom Salt- cup of table salt, cup of Epsom salt & an apple slice
f) Table Salt & Baking Soda- cup of table salt, cup of baking soda & an apple
slice
2) Use an apple slicer to slice the apple so apples are as similar in size as possible.
3) Place an apple slice in cup #1 as the control.
4) Fill cup #2 with cup of table salt surrounding the apple slice.
5) Fill cup #3 with cup of Epsom salt surrounding the apple slice.
6) Fill cup #4 with cup of baking soda surrounding the apple slice.
7) Fill cup #5 with a mixture of cup of table salt and cup of Epsom salt surrounding the
apple slice.
8) Fill cup #6 with a mixture of cup of table salt and cup of baking soda surrounding
the apple slice.
9) Place the cups on a shelf out of direct sunlight and left them sit for seven days.
10) After a week has gone by, take out each apple slice and brush off as much of the
preservatives as possible.
11) Compare the 6 slices (make sure to keep track of which piece was in which cup!) by
placing the apple pieces in order of size.
Results:
Describe what happened as a result of the experiment by answering the following questions:

1) Which substance or mixture seemed to work the best at making an apple mummy? Why
do you think this was true? Did the results match your hypothesis?
2) Do you think you would have achieved the same results if you used a whole, un-peeled
apple? Why or why not?
3) What was the point of leaving one of the apple slices in a cup without any salt at all?
4) Where did the moisture in the slices go? How could you confirm this?

Conclusions:
Students will state what they learned from the experiment.