Does Soaking Popcorn Kernels In Water Pop More Kernels PDF

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Does Soaking P Popcorn opcorn K Kernels ernels In W Water ater Po Pop p More K Ke ernels? Jacob McLaughlin C683 Natur Natural al Science Lab Section I: Introduction and Literature Review One of America’s classic snacks is popcorn. It can be made salty or sweet and is great for enjoying during a movie, game night, or those late-night munchies. What some people may not realize, is that there is a science behind this delicious treat. Popcorn is not simply made by taking off the kernels from an ear of corn and throwing them in the microwave. There are only certain types of corn that can be made into popcorn (Why Does Popcorn Pop? - Exploring the Science of Popcorn, 2020). It’s just like making any recipe. You must have the proper ingredients to make it just right. So, what makes up the perfect popping popcorn? It is based on three basic factors or qualities. These factors are water content, strength of the hull, and composition of endosperm (Why Does Popcorn Pop? - Exploring the Science of Popcorn, 2020). While all of these factors are important, water content is one of the most important. “Each seed needs a moisture level of about 14 percent” (Chew, 2019). To better understand just how important this factor is, we need to examine how the process of popping takes place. “When popcorn kernels heat, the water turns into steam. This vapor creates pressure inside the seed. As the pressure builds, the starch starts to soften. When the seed reaches about 350 degrees, the hull, or pericarp, explodes under the pressure, and the starch breaks the confines of its shell” (Chew, 2019). This breaks down to one simple equation. Less water = less steam and less steam = less popped kernels.

Section II: Hypothesis For this experiment, I am going to take 2 sets of 20 popcorn kernels and soak 1 set in water for 30 minutes. Group A will represent the kernels cooked immediately from the bag, and Group B will represent the kernels soaked in water for 30 minutes. I hypothesize that Group B will produce more kernels popped than Group A. While the kernels in Group A should still have a significant popped to un-popped ratio, the kernels in Group B should produce more products based on the equation given above. More water = more steam which will lead to more kernels popped. As already discussed in the beginning, the vapor from the steam is what causes pressure in the kernel (Chew, 2019). Section III: Method

The independent variable is the amount of water in a popcorn kernel. I am trying to manipulate it by multiplying the percentage of water held in the kernel to increase the kernels popped. This will be manipulated by soaking 1 group of kernels in 2 cups of tap water for 30 minutes. The dependent variable is the popcorn kernels. There are two groups of 20 single kernels. Success or failure will be measured by kernels popped per group. For this experiment, there are 2 confounding variables. These are the bowl used to pop the popcorn, and the microwave. Regardless of how much water is in the kernel, both the bowl and microwave are essential to making the popcorn pop. It will be controlled by having both groups in the same microwave, for the same amount of time, with the same amount of heat, and the bowl in the same position. While they both will affect the independent and dependent variables, they will not be the reason for changed results that may or may not be caused by the independent variable. The materials used in this experiment are the following;      

40 generic brand popcorn kernels Measuring cup Cuisinart microwave popcorn maker Water Paper towels 2 medium-size bowls

The steps of the experiment include: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Grab 2 medium size bowls Open the generic brand of popcorn Separate 40 kernels into 2 groups of 20 Place one group of 20 kernels in one of the bowls and place the other group in the last bowl. 5. Label one bowl group A and the other bowl group B 6. Take your measuring cup and add 2 cups of tap water into the group B bowl 7. Set a timer for 30 minutes and let the group B sit in the water for 30 minutes 8. Once the timer has gone off, take the kernels out of group B’s bowl and dry each one them off with paper towels. 9. After you have dried the kernels off, let them sit for 5 minutes. 10. After the kernels have completely dried off, place group B into the Cuisinart microwave popcorn maker and place it in the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

11. Once the timer on the microwave has finished take group B out and place them back into their designated bowl. 12. Grab group A and place them into the Cuisinart microwave popcorn maker and place it in the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 13. Once the timer on the microwave has finished take group A out and place them back into their designated bowl. Section IV IV:: Results After conducting the experiment, Group A produced more kernels popped than Group B. As a reminder, Group A was the group that did not get soaked in water. It yielded 20 popped kernels without any manipulation. Group B, which was soaked in water, only produced 16 popped kernels. This chart visually shows the results as explained above. On the left side of the graph, it shows you the measurements of how many kernels. The blue bar shows the base number of kernels that were popped for both groups, and the orange bar shows how many were popped.

Kernels Unpopped vs. Kernels Popped 25

20 15

10

5

0

Group A

Group B Kernels Unpopped

Kernels Popped

Section V V:: Conclusions As told in the results, more kernels were popped in the unaltered kernels, than the altered kernels. This proved my hypothesis to be refuted. Despite trying to add more moisture to the kernels, it produced fewer kernels popped. One uncontrolled confounding variable that was not previously mentioned could be the size of the

kernels. This is not something that I measured or paid attention to, but it’s possible that impacted the results with the kernel count in each group being so small. I believe there are 2 things that could improve the experiment. First, I believe that increasing the number of kernels used in the experiment would help give more accurate results. The uncontrolled confounding variable as mentioned above would impact the experience regardless of what was changed or manipulated. Second, I believe if the kernels were soaked for a longer period, then it would produce results that more closely align with my hypothesis. It’s possible that 30 minutes is not enough to change the percentage of water enough to increase the kernels popped. However, it’s hard to say if the increased amount of kernels alone would make a difference, or if the water aspect would need to be altered as well.

Unfortunately, the results refuted my hypothesis. With that being said, the results still aligned with the literature review given above. Popcorn needs 3 main factors to successfully pop, and I had all of those factors. The majority of the kernels did still pop regardless of the alternations and manipulations just as it should. The base amount of water that the average kernel has still allowed for a delicious bowl of popcorn to be popped. The fact listed previously suggesting that less water = less steam, which means less kernels popped seemed to be contradicted in my experiment. However, it’s possible that the kernels in Group B had less water to begin with than the average, and it would have popped fewer kernels regardless of it being soaked in water. Section VI: Sources

Chew, C. M. (2019, June 6). What makes popcorn pop? Retrieved April 27, 2020, from https://www.popsci.com/what-makes-popcorn-pop/ ConoverFeb, E. (2017, December 10). The secret behind the sound: Why popcorn 'pops'. Retrieved April 27, 2020, from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/02/secret-behind-sound-why-popcorn-pops# Knowles, E. (2016, January 15). What Makes Popcorn Pop? Retrieved April 27, 2020, from http://thescienceexplorer.com/nature/what-makes-popcorn-pop Why Does Popcorn Pop? - Exploring the Science of Popcorn. (2020, April 18). Retrieved April 27, 2020, from https://foodcrumbles.com/why-does-popcorn-pop/...