The Burning Truth About Food Jake Larson Mulgrave School Floor Location : J 120 H

The purpose of this experiment was to find out which type of food has the most calories per gram. I chose to do this project because I like to figure out how many calories I am eating. It is interesting that one gram of protein or carbohydrates turn into four calories. One example is when you have a bowl of cereal with 5 grams of protein there would be 20 calories. With an additional 44 grams of carbohydrates, that would add 176 calories. With 4 grams of fat, 36 calories are added. An additional 230 calories from other ingredients makes a full bowl of cereal come to 462 calories.

My hypothesis was that the fruit would have the most calories per gram because the sugar in the fruit would give off more energy. The nuts would have the second most calories per gram because of the high amount of oils in them.

Most governments require manufactures to label their products with nutritional information including calories, protein, fat, transfat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Scientists determine the amount of calories per serving using chemical tests to determine how much food can be digested and turned into energy. A gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories, a gram of protein has 4 calories, and a gram of fat has 9 calories. Therefore, if you know how many grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat are in a type of food then you can calculate approximately how many calories are in them.

When conducting my science fair project I learned that most food burns. I also learned that oil in any form will burn very well. Another thing I learned was that banana is a very dense fruit, but very low in calories per gram. I learned that a small amount of a burning food can have a very dramatic result on changing the water temperature. I also learned how to prioritize my things to get everything done in a more effective and efficient way.

I conducted my project in a large open room with a slight draft. One thing that I would change is that I would do the experiment in a smaller closed room, and air out the room after each experiment. Also, you should change the water after about every two burns. I did not, which meant that each test may not have had exactly 90 grams of water. This made my results less accurate. My results are believable, but different to what is published partly due to this and other sources of error listed on my display.

My conclusion is that peanuts and cashews have more calories per gram than anything else I tested. The peas and banana have the least calories per gram. My hypothesis was wrong because the fruits did not burn or have the most calories per gram. I was right because the nuts burned quite well due to the oils in them.