Matthew Sy 4H 27

KITKAT MYSTERY

ISSUE NO. 17

Consumer Welfare Magazine Philippines Incorporated

An Extra Bar
In the present society, there are many brands of chocolates. The popularity of each of the chocolates varies on certain factors. One of the factors being the weight and calories that it provides. People consider this as one of the factors before buying the product because of the possible health benefits (i.e. less fattening/ more healthy). How are we truly sure that the basic industry standards are accurate to the consumer product quantities? The quantities of the actual product may have more than prescribed and this would cause the person taking the chocolate for the less calories may actually be receiving more than he/she plans. This goal of this experiment is to discover whether the actual products quantities comply with the basic industry standards or not. By the end of this experiment, we will be able to see whether they comply or not. C.) Materials - The following products were used in order to conduct the experiment accurately. 1. 35 grams KitKat Bar 2. 11.34 grams Green Tea Kitkat Bar (Flavor does not matter) 3. Scissors (To open the package without spreading the contents) 4. Electronic Scale (Measuring Device) 5. Notebook (Taking down of measurements) 6. Ball Pen 7. Lab Apron

A.) Problem Statement - Which among the two variations of size of one brand has a more concise measurement to the basic industry standard? B.) Hypothesis - If the measurement of both these products are accurate to the prescribed quantity, then the weight should be accurate and precise.

D.) Procedure 1. Check for complete materials before beginning. 2. Wear lab apron for cleanliness. 3. Use the Scissors to open the packaging of the chocolates. 4. Open the Electronic Scale. 5. Ensure that the Electronic Scale is reset before using. 6. Place the first chocolate and second chocolate one at a time on the Electronic Scale (REMEMBER to reset the scale again before placing the next chocolate for measure) 7. Write the measurements of each chocolate in the notebook (Do not forget to add the provided uncertainty of the Electronic Scale which is + 0.01) 8. Repeat steps 5-7 test 3 times. E.) Data Table - The results/data collected from the experiment. Uncertainty : + 0.01 Trials Trial #1 Trial #2 Trial #3 Kitkat (35 grams) 38.89 + 0.01 38.90 + 0.01 38.70 + 0.01 Green Tea Kitkat (11.34 grams) 12.28 + 0.01 12.37 + 0.01 12.27 + 0.01

F.) Analysis and conclusions Based on the result of the experiment, the basic industry standard of the Kitkat products are less than what is actually provided. The prescribed quantity of 35 grams and 11.34 grams were both exceeded by the actual measurement of the product. We can gather based on this information that each of the Kitkat bars provide higher than the prescribed measurement. This would infer that the Kitkat bars are not accurate to the basic industry standard. An external factor that may have affected the experiment is the heat because if the bar melts and some of it stick to the cover then the experiment will not receive its full intended results. After conducting the experiment, we can conclude that both variations of Kitkat are not accurate to the prescribed measurement. As seen in the results, all of the tests show that the products are heavier than the basic industry standard. Despite some of the Kitkat having remnants on the plastic, it was still heavier than the prescribed measurement. The results show that the Green Tea Kitkat is slightly more accurate to its prescribed measurement which is 11.34 grams. I can conclude that if the consumer is aiming for a product that is more accurate to the basic industry standard, then the Green Tea Kitkat is the better option for the consumer.

G.) Recommendations
- The Kitkat that would be used for the experiment should be placed in a cool area first before experimenting in order to prevent it from melting. In the experiment the values I received may not have been the ideal measurements because of the chocolate melting and sticking to the cover.