DATE: 14/11/18 LAB #:18

OBSERVATION:
ministry of health has rolled out its childhood obesity prevention and control programme. A marked
increased in obesity in children between the ages of 5 to 18 has been noted. Statistics show a rise
from 11% in 1999 to 23% in 2009. (reported in the guardian newspaper on January 27th 2017)

As of April 2017, soft drink sales were banned form government and government assisted schools
in Trinidad and Tobago. Fruit juices, however, are allowed to be sold. Some juices contain added
sugars and artificial sweeteners. This has raised questions about the sugar content in these juices
and if it is in fact the healthier choice.

HYPOTHESIS:
Fruit juices are less healthy than soda since fruit juices contain more sugar than soda.
AIM:
To determine the glucose content in fruit juices and sodas by comparing the mass of precipitate
weighed on a balanced scale after conducting the Benedict’s test and waiting for 24 hours.
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS:
Minute maid (5 ml), Coca- Cola (5 ml), Fruta Kool kids (5 ml), Chubby Tutti Frutti (5 ml), pepsi
(5ml), Mott’s apple juice (5ml), measuring cyclinder, water, stopwatch, glucose tablet, Benedict’s
reagent, HCl, tripod stand, wire gauze, bunsen burner, lighter, test tubes(7), marker, tape, balanced
scale, filter paper (7), filter funnel (7), test tube holder, dropper, scissors
METHOD:
1.Set up a water bath by lighting a bunsen burner, placing a wire gauze over tripod stand and filling
a 500ml beaker with 250ml water.
2.Label six (3) test tubes A -C (juice) and label another three (3) test tubes 1-3 (soda) respectively
and place it in a test tube holder.
3.Measure 2ml of each juice brand using a measuring cylinder and pour into a test tube respectively.
4.Measure 2ml of HCL using a measuring cylinder and pour into each brand of juice.
5.Place the test tubes into the water bath for 5 minutes using a test tube holder.
6.After 5 minutes place all test tubes on a rack.
7.Pour 2ml of Benedict’s reagent into the test tubes.
8.Record observations.
9.Repeat steps 3-7 for the sodas and place them in test tubes 1-3.
10.Repeat steps 3-7 for water and place in a test tube labelled water.
11.Weigh 7 filter papers on a balanced scale and record the weight.
12.Fold the filter papers and place into a filter funnel, place funnel into a beaker.
13.Pour the precipitate formed from each test tube into a funnel with filter paper.
14.Leave to rest for 24 hours.
15.Weigh each of the filter paper with the precipitate.
16.Record your observations.

17.VARIABLES:
CONSTANT VARIABLE: The amount of soda, juices, Benedict’s solution and HCL used in the
experiment.
MANIPULATING VARIABLE: Different beverages were used such as Juice, Soda and water.
These were tested using HCL.
RESPONDING VARIABLE: The amount of precipitate weighed/ the difference in the colour
change of beverages.
EXPECTED RESULTS:
TABLE 1 SHOWING THE COLOUR CHANGE OF THE GLUCOSE TEST STRIPS AND THE
AMOUNT OF SUGAR PRESENT IN EACH DRINK.
DRINK COLOUR CHANGE MASS OF PRECIPITATE
A (FRESH)
B (FRUTA)
C (ORANGE JUICE)
1 (BUSTA)
2 (COCA- COLA)
3 (SOLO)
Water

EXPECTED RESULTS:
A persons diet may be defined as the food and drink that person consumes. A healthy diet means
eating a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good, and
have energy. These nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals. A
poor diet fails to provide your body with the correct amounts and types of nutrients for maximum
health and is directly linked to obesity. The intake of to much sugar and less nutritional substances
deprive the body of what it needs to function properly and eventually leads to a malfunctions and
may lead to certain diseases. Consuming the sugars from soda and juices lead to weight gain and
eventually obesity. Usually when you consume too much sugar the negative feedback system comes
into play; the pancreas detects the raise in blood sugar level, releases insulin and the blood sugar
levels return back to normal however when you gain weight/ become overweight it is highly likely
that you become insulin resistant. This ultimately leads to diabetes. Fruit juices contain just as much
sugar as soda and in some instances more sugar than soda. In addition fruit juices also contain
artificial sweeteners which in my opinion is less healthy than soda and has a link to obesity because
excessive sweetened soft drink consumption has been linked to weight gain, as it provides a major
and unnecessary source of calories with little or no nutritional value. Even thought the government
is taking a step towards preventing diabetes the juices sold at schools may not be the healthiest
option. Replacing them with freshly squeezes fruits such as oranges may be taken into
consideration. Obesity falls in the category of a lifestyle disease and is linked to many other
diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes and cancer. Poor diet are among one of the most influential
causes for obesity. In this experiment different Soda, Juice and Water (control) are tested by placing
2ml of HCL in each and boiling for 5 minutes. Benedict’s solution is added to the test tubes when
removed from the water bath and observations are made. Since this test is semi quantitative
weighing the precipitate on a balanced scale after 24 hours is done to further quantify the results for
a superior comparison. Due to the fact that sucrose was present in the beverages and not glucose,
hydrolization of the sucrose was performed. HCl caused the sucrose to become hydrolysed into
glucose and fructose. The Benedict’s test was done to confirm the presence of glucose. Based on
my research the two (3) fruit juices contain more sugar than the two(3) brands of soda sold at my
school. Benedict’s test is an indication of the amount of sugar present and therefore by using this
test we can observe a colour change and see which beverage has the most sugar. Weighing makes
the experiment more accurate as exact mass of precipitate of sugar would be obtained. I expect to
see a greater intensity of brown in the Benedict’s test for the fruit juices than the soda. I also expect
to observe a greater mass of precipitate for test tubes A-C than test tubes 1-3. This is due to the fact
that the fruit juices contain more sugar than the sodas.

TREATMENT OF RESULTS:
If there is a higher percentage of sugar in fruit juices than the sodas then the hypothesis is proven. If
there is a higher percentage of sugar in sodas than the fruit juices then the hypothesis is disproven.
PRECAUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS/ SOURCES OF ERROR:
1. Ensure the beverages are measured at eye level to avoid parallax error.
2. Shake fruit juices properly so that the particles are evenly distributed in the drinks.
3. Ensure the soda is measured properly as the fizzing is difficult to measure accurately and
therefore the mass precipitate for the soda can be inaccurate.
4.If you don't wet the filter paper with water first, some solid/ precipitate may get under it when
poured in and an inaccurate mass will be obtained.
5.Weighing the filter paper on the balanced scale inaccurately.