Well, dyes known as food colourings serve the same job as paint – to make the candy brightly colored – whilst still being edible.

The packet will list the dyes used in the ingredients but which colors are used for which candy?

Does the same color theory you use for mixing colors with paints hold true for food coloring?

This science fair experiement will answer those questions in a dramatic and colorful way.

What you will need:

- Packet of hard shelled candy (eg M&Ms or Skittles)
- Bleached coffee filter paper (eg white, not brown)
- Toothpicks
- Tray or shallow oven dish
- A pencil (do not use a pen)
- aluminium foil
- Salt
- Measuring jug
- Water

Objective
The objective of this project is to use paper chromatography to analyze the dyes used in different colored candies.

Method

1. a) Cut the Coffee filter paper into a large square.
b) Mark siz dots on the paper using the pencil, at least 0.5cm appart and all exactely 1cm from the bottom of the paper.
c) Label each dot for a different colour of candy.

2. a) Cut the aluminium foil into small squares, about 3cm square and fold up the corners on each slightly to make small cups.
b) Put a small drop of water in each cup and then place a different colored candy in each cup so it is in the water.
c) Wait a few minutes for the colored dye on the candy to dissolve into the water and then remove the candies.

3. a) Take a toothpick, dip it in the colored water and then touch it to the dot on the coffee filter that corresponds to the same color.
b) Use a different toothpick for each color to avoid cross-contaminating the dyes.
c) Re-apply the color three or four times, waiting for the dots to dry each time, to ensure there is a good amount of the dye on the filter paper.

4. a) Add about 1g of salt to 1 liter of water and mix together.
b) Pour into the tray.
c) Dip the bottom of the filter paper into the water without submerging the colored dots.

Watch as the salt water solution is drawn up the paper through the colored dots. Until it is almost all the way to the top.

Results and Observations
As the salt water solution rises up the paper passed the dots, it draws the dyes up the paper with it. Some of the dyes are more soluble than others, and will travel further up the paper. As some of the colors are made up of more than one colored dye, this means that the different colors get deposited on the paper at different heights, leaving seperate bands of color up the paper. This means you can easily identify which colors were mixed to get the different colored candies.

Which colors are used to make the different colors of candy?
Is it the same colors you would mix together if you wanted to make those colors of paint?
Repeat the experiment using different brands of sweets – do they all use the same colored dyes for the different colors of sweets?

Explanation
This method is known as paper chromatography. Chromatography is a wide body of techniques used to seperate mixtures so that the individual chemicals they are composed of can be identified. Different chromatography techniques are used in a wide range of disciplines from forensics to food research to environmental monitoring. Can you think of any specific situations where Chromatography would be useful?

About Peak Scientific
Peak Scientific Ltd. manufacture gas generators for use in commercial and university laboratories. Their range of nitrogen gas generators are specifically designed for LC/MS (Liquid Chromatography / Gas Spectrometry) implementations.

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If you are currently on winter break and are bored then there are several holiday activities that you can do that will relate to science. The first option is to start making observations about your environment. You can make observations about how your family reacts to changing noise levels or to how they react to a crowd of people at a holiday party. You can also make observations about weather patterns, your pets or even about yourself. Making observations is the first step in developing a science project.

The second holiday activity that you can complete is to conduct basic experiments. Experiments can be conducted in your kitchen, in your garage or outside. To find ideas for fun and safe home experiments just browse through this blog, there are dozens of ideas for projects. Completing these experiments will help you to figure out how to set up an experiment and how to test a hypothesis.

Online research is another activity that relates to science that you can complete while on winter break. This activity has several purposes. The first purpose is to give you experience conducting online research. Secondly it will give you practice taking notes and creating bibliography entries. Finally, it will help you to find science topics that interest you. All of these things will help you to develop a super cool science fair project which most likely will take place during the second semester of your school year.

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While these project ideas may result in a passing science grade they are, in a word, boring. Boring projects are not going to do well at science fairs. Judges will not give your project a good score and they will not forward your project to the winners’ circle.

If you want to produce a winning candy science fair project you need to develop an interesting project idea. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can do this.

The first way to develop an innovative candy bar science project is to looked as a component of candy that does not related to the chemical and physical changes that sugar undergoes during the candy making process. Instead you will want to look at other science concepts related to candy making or to candy in general. For example, you can examine how candy’s ingredients impact a body. You can examine how much energy is produced by eating candy, how long the energy lasts for and how it impacts the biochemistry of the person eating it.

Another way to develop an innovative candy project is to take a look at the psychological impact that it has on people. You can research why candy is so popular and why it seems to make us happy.

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The most common candy science fair projects are going to deal with rock candy, which is made from sugar solutions and the crystallization process. These projects can be a lot of fun, and very tasty. To enhance the value of this type of candy science fair project try doing something different from your peers. For example, create rock candy castles or intricate shapes. Also experiment with adding color to your candy creations.

If you are looking for a science fair project that is above the norm, then try using candy in behavioral science fair projects. For example, you can determine if certain candy’s taste better to people because of their association with a brand name. You can also use candy as the subject, or at least the variable, in health science fair projects. For example, you can determine if candy impacts kids’ ability to focus in the classroom or if it improves their physical performance in sports, like running.

Finally, the candy making process can be examined in chemistry or physics science fair projects. For example, you can examine how the molecular structure in sugar changes as it is heated. You can examine the sugar crystals as they are heated to see how various types of candies are created. You can then compare and contrast the molecular structures of chewy candies, like caramels, to hard candies like Life Savers.

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