THE STUDY OF WHICH BRAND OF POPCORN POPS THE MOST KERNELS

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1 THE STUDY OF WHICH BRAND OF POPCORN POPS THE MOST KERNELS Niki Vilas Boas Cary Academy ABSTRACT The purpose of the experiment was to see which brand of popcorn pops the most kernels. Each brand of popcorn was popped then counted to see which one popped the most. The brand that popped the most kernels was the Harris Teeter brand. This happened because Harris Teeter brand popcorn is organic and not preserved in ways that don t allow it to pop as well. Popcorn comes from a grain called corn that has been around for a long time and has a fascinating history. INTRO Corn is a grain that has been around a long time. Corn in the US will be called corn or sometimes maize. Within a few years of its discovery it began spreading to France, Italy, southeastern Europe and northern Africa. By 1575 it was in China and an important crop in the Philippines and East Indies. Most historians believe that corn originated in the Tehuacan valley of Mexico.

2 Starting in 1969, when Nixon became president, the government began subsidizing or paying the farmers to grow corn. After that the amount of corn skyrocketed in the US and became very cheap. Now that corn was so popular they began to become creative with its uses. It was soon put in almost all foods as food fillers. One of the most popular sugary uses of corn is high fructose corn syrup which is in many things from Gatorade to Snickers bars. The oldest records of popcorn were found in a bat cave in New Mexico, and they were 5,600 years old. Popcorn could be so well preserved that when archeologists found it thousands of years later all they needed to do was dust it off and it looked white and fluffy. Popcorn was even around for the first thanksgiving meal. When you pop popcorn you will need heat. Many people use heat when cooking, but a very common use of it is boiling. There is a boiling point which is the point when water begins to bubble. The bubbling is caused because when you heat up a pan the hot part is generally the bottom so the water molecules at the bottom begin to heat up causing them to rise up and the cooler ones to sink down. Once the cool ones reach the bottom they also begin to heat up and rise bringing the cool molecules down again. This rotation continues until the water at the bottom gets so hot it starts to vaporize. Vapor is less dense then water so it rises to the top causing a swirling motion. As the water gets hotter and hotter the swirling motion starts to become the bubbles you see when water boils. There are many different ways to tell temperature, but the three main scales are the Fahrenheit scale, the Celsius scale and the Kelvin scale. They each have their own boiling points. For the Fahrenheit it is 212 degrees. For the Celsius scale it is 100 degrees and for the Kelvin scale it is 373 degrees. Temperature doesn t just consist of boiling points. Temperature is the measurement of the kinetic energy that is made up when atoms and molecules move around. The faster they move, the more kinetic energy there would be. Mohala Kaliebe also studied popcorn. her experiments were to see if the different oils affects the popcorn. She placed the hot plate to the setting 9 and placed 2 tablespoons of oil into it. The oil sat there for 5 minutes then the popcorn kernels were put in. the kernels were set to pop for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. She learned that all oils made the popcorn pop similar averages. Canola and flaxseed oil popped 30/30 kernels and olive oil popped 29/30 kernels.

3 Popcorn was also studied by Kristen Andrejko. This ISP was to see if different amounts of water changed how many kernels popped. 100 popcorn kernels were soaked for 24 hours in room temperature water. They were soaked in 40mL, 60mL, and 80mL. After they were soaked they were put in a brown paper bag and popped for 2 minutes. When the kernels were soaked in only 40mL they popped more because the water did not seep in as much. MATERIALS AND METHODS The materials that were used in the experiments were Harris Teeter popcorn, Orville popcorn, Kernel Seasons popcorn, brown paper bags, a microwave, water, canola oil, soda, timer, beakers and paper towels. The first experiment was to see which brand of popcorn would pop the most kernels. 3 brands were tested; Harris Teeter brand, Orville brand and Kernel Season brand. 50 Harris Teeter brand popcorn kernels were counted out and out into a brown paper bag, then popped for a minute and 30 seconds. After they were taken out of the microwave and poured out onto a paper towel and the un-popped kernels were popped. The un-popped kernels were subtracted from the total 50 kernels to get how many were actually popped. This was done 2 more times for the Harris Teeter brand of popcorn and then and average was found. The same thing was done with the Orville and Kernel Seasons popcorn. The purpose of the second experiment was to see if soaking the Harris Teeter brand popcorn kernels in different liquids would affect how many kernels popped. There were 3 liquids used in this experiment; water, soda and canola oil. 50 kernels of Harris Teeter brand popcorn kernels were counted out then water was poured into a beaker along with the 50 popcorn kernels. The kernels were left to soak in the water for 2 minutes then taken out and slightly dried off. After that they were placed in a brown paper bag and popped for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Then the un-popped kernels were counted. To get the amount of kernels that did pop the amount that didn t pop was subtracted from the total 50 kernels then recorded into the data. This was done 2 more times for the water to find an average and done 3 times each for the other 2 liquids as well.

4 amount of kernels popped The 3 rd experiment was to see if soaking 50 Harris teeter brand popcorn kernels in canola oil for different amounts of time would affect how many kernels popped. For this experiment a base was needed. To find a base 50 kernels were not soaked at all then popped for 1 minute and 30 seconds. That was done 3 times. The base made the experiment data easier to compare. Then 50 kernels were soaked for 10 seconds in the canola oil and popped for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Then the amount popped out of the 50 total kernels were found and recorded in the data. This was repeated 2 more times to find an average. This process was repeated changing only the amount of time soaked in canola oil. The 2 other time intervals were 30 seconds and 1 minute. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Harris Teeter Orville Kernel Seasons brand of popcorn The first experiment was to see which brand of popcorn popped the most kernels. The Harris Teeter brand popped the most. The reason for this is because it is organic. Out of the three brands Harris Teeter was the only organic one. What makes it organic is that it was grown naturally without any preservatives or unhealthy chemicals. The other two brands have many chemicals that don t allow the kernels to be as healthy or fresh therefore they don t pop the way they are

5 amount of kernels popped supposed to. Orville popped the least, but Kernels Seasons was pretty close. The results all ran pretty close averages water soda canola oil liquid soaked in The second experiment was to see if the different types of liquid would affect how many kernels popped. Soda seemed to have affected it the least, allowing it to pop the most kernels out of the three. Water made the kernels pop the least amount. The water is the most moist out of the three causing the kernels to slow down the popping. The moisture doesn t allow the kernels to develop the amount of pressure it needs nor does it allow it to reach the proper temperature for it to pop.

6 amount of kernels popped amount of time soaked When the kernels were not soaked at all they popped the most. When they were soaked for longer and longer periods of time they began to pop less. When it was soaked for 60 seconds the kernels popped more than when it was soaked for 30 seconds which was a change in the pattern. The reason the oil affected its popping was because of the oil s moisture. The moisture affected the pressure and heat of the kernels in the microwave, not allowing all of them to pop. CONCLUSION For the first experiment the Harris Teeter brand popcorn popped the most amount of popcorn, Orville popped the least and Kernel Seasons came in close to Orville but still popped more. It was expected that Orville would pop the most because it is a well-known and popular brand. The results are important because now people can get the most out of their money spent on popcorn. Other experiments that could be done are comparing the brands taste to see which one is actually better. Citations

7 Kristen Andrejko, the study of how soaking popcorn kernels in different amounts of water affects the popping efficiency, Cary Academy, 2009 "Login." Discovery Education. Web. 20 Feb Lowe, Lindsey, ed. Introducing physics matter, energy, and heat. Tucson: brown books, Print Mohala Kaliebe, The Study of How Cooking Popcorn in Different Oils Affects How Many Kernels Pop and Why, Cary Academy, 2012 "Origin, History, and Uses of Corn (Zea Mays)." Origin, History and Uses of Corn. Web. 19 Feb "What Is Boiling Water? Cookthink." What Is Boiling Water? Cookthink. Web. 20 Feb "What is Temperature?" What Is Temperature? Web. 20 Feb Wood, Robert W. Heat Fundamentals. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Print.