Caloric Content of Food

Caloric Content of Food

Peter Jeschofnig, Ph.D. Version 42-0143-00-01

Lab Report Assistant

This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.

Observations

Data Table 1: Food Item - Observations
Food Item Description:
Marshmallow
Cashew
Other Sample
Mass of food & holder – initial
28.2g
21.2g
20.7g
Mass of food & holder – final
26.8
20.6g
20.3g
Mass of food burnt
1.3
0.6g
0.1g
Mass of beaker
64.1g
64.1g
64.1g
Mass of beaker & water
112.0g
112.0g
112.0g
Mass of water
47.9g
47.9g
47.9g
Water temp. – initial
32c
28c
31c
Water temp. – final
40c
53c
36c
Delta T (oC change)
8c
25c
5c

QUESTIONS

A. Which of the foods tested contains the most energy per gram?

The cashew

B. How do your experimental results compare to published values?
They were roughly accurate
C. What type of reaction is used in calorimetry? Combustion
D. What are the products of the reactions? Co2 and H2O
E. Where did the products go? Into the atmosphere as gas
F. A student performing an experiment to determine the caloric content of a cashew nut collected the following data:

● Mass of cashew nut before burning: 0.55 g

● After burning: 0.05 g

● Temp. increase of 200 g of water: 7.0 oC

1. Calculate the total energy released by the combustion of the cashew nut by using the water temp. increase, the mass of the water and specific heat capacity of water.

14.179j

2. Calculate the energy released per gram of cashew nut consumed in the