BIOLOGY PEKA

SHARIFAH NADIA BINTI SYED MUHAMMAD NAQUIB

4 SAIDINA ABU BAKAR
ACTIVITY 6.1 DETERMINING THE ENERGY VALUE IN FOOD SAMPLES

AIM
To determine the energy value in food samples.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Do peanuts and cashew nuts have different energy values?

HYPOTHESIS
Peanuts have higher energy value than cashew nuts.

VARIABLES
Manipulated variable: Type of food samples.
Responding variable: The energy value produced by food samples.
Constant variable: Volume of distilled water.

MATERIALS
Distilled water, a peanut, a cashew nut, plasticine and cotton wool.

APPARATUS
A boiling tube, a thermometer (0-100C), a retort stand, a pin (5-8cm long), a measuring
cylinder, a Bunsen burner and an electronic balance.









Figure 6.1

PROCEDURE
1. Weigh the peanut and record its weight.
2. Fill a boiling tube with 20ml of distilled water.
3. Clamp the boiling tube to the retort stand (Figure 6.1)
4. Record the initial temperature of the water in the boiling tube.
5. Spike the peanut firmly at the end of the pin which is mounted on some plasticine.
6. Ignite the peanut by holding it in the flame of a Bunsen burner. Then immediately place it
beneath the boiling tube to heat the water.
7. Stir the water gently with the thermometer.
8. Record the final temperature, that is, the highest temperature reached as soon as the peanut
has stopped burning.
9. Calculate the energy value of the peanut by using the formula below:




10. Repeat steps 1 to 9 with a cashew nut.
11. Tabulate the results in the table below.

Energy value: 4.2 (J g
-1
C
-1
) x mass of water (g) x increase in temperature (C)
Mass of food sample (g) x 1000
(kJ g
-1
)
RESULTS

Type of food sample

Peanut

Cashew nut

Mass of food sample (g)

0.36

1.78

Mass of water (assuming
that 1 ml of water weighs
1g)



20


20

Initial temperature of
water (t
1
C)


30

30

Final temperature of water
(t
2
C)


53

96

Increase in temperature
[(t
1
t
2
) C : y C]


23

66

Energy value produced by
1g of food sample (kJ g
-1
)


5.367

3.114

Energy value in peanut: 4.2 (J g
-1
C
-1
) x mass of water (g) x increase in temperature (C)
Mass of peanut (g) x 1000
: 4.2 (J g
-1
C
-1
) x 20 (g) x 23 (C)
0.36 (g) x 1000
: 5.367 kJ g
-1

Energy value in 4.2 (J g
-1
C
-1
) x mass of water (g) x increase in temperature (C)
cashew nut Mass of cashew nut (g) x 1000
: 4.2 (J g
-1
C
-1
) x 20 (g) x 66 (C)
1.78 (g) x 1000
: 3.114 kJ g
-1

(kJ g
-1
)
(kJ g
-1
)
(kJ g
-1
)
(kJ g
-1
)
:
DISCUSSION
1. Three ways the apparatus set-up can be improved in order to obtain a more accurate result
are by placing the food samples nearer to the boiling tube, placing books around the
apparatus set-up to prevent the loss of heat to the surroundings and by not putting the
thermometer too close to the end of the boiling tube.

2. The forms of energy that are released when the food samples burn are heat energy and light
energy.

3. Not all the energy released by the food samples are used to heat the water. This is because
some of it are lost to the surroundings.

4. The knowledge of energy values in food samples is important because we are able to know
how much food to be consumed for our daily requirements to prevent obesity and
malnutrition.

5. The class of food that has the highest energy value is lipids. Peanuts have higher energy
value than cashew nuts because peanuts might have more lipids than cashew nuts.


CONCLUSION
The hypothesis is accepted. Peanuts have higher energy value than cashew nuts.