Science Investigative Project 2011: SIP Experiment Trial 2

The tentative methodology really helped! I was a lot more organised then, so the experiment was a success. Here are some of my observations:

1. Trial 1 actually helped in this experiment, because I was better at taking the peaches out of the cups and was able to record their appearances faster. This minimised the time the peaches were exposed to air.

2. The peaches in the juices appeared slightly discoloured, but this was because of the colour of the juice which stained the peaches.

3. Naturally, I took many pictures, but had to make sure my shadow (or the camera's) did not get in the way of the experiment. Later, I also had to make sure the lighting of the set-up was the same, or the peaches may look lighter or darker than they actually were during the experiment.

I also made some modifications to the methodology. Instead of observing them every 5 minutes, I observed them at 5 minute intervals for the half hour (6 times), then at 15 minute intervals for the next 1 hour (4 times), then at 30 minute intervals for the next 2 hours (4 times). I did this because I realised that in the 1st experiment, after around 30 minutes the rate of browning of the peaches slowed down. Thus, it would be all right to observe them at progressively longer intervals.

After 3 1/2 hours, the control was so brown it looked more like a potato wedge covered in dark gravy. The peach in tap water did not fair too well either, being only slightly less brown than the control. (of course I will use more precise terms in my report!) But all the peaches in the Vitamin C remained perfectly unchanged, since the start of the experiment! They were still a brilliant yellowish-white. This really surprised me, for I had not thought that Vitamin C could be such a wonderful preservative! I expected them to be slightly brown, but not as brown as the tap water or salt water.

I decided to leave the peaches in the cups to observe them after 5 1/2 hours and after 9 hours since the start of the experiment. At the 9 hour mark, I took the peaches out of the cups and left them on the plates, then observed them to see if they would turn brown after being exposed to air and having been soaked in their respective liquids for 9 hours. 1 hour after I did so there was no change in appearance in all the peaches!

This is very interesting. The peaches in Vitamin C had not changed their colour since the start of the experiment. After 9 hours of soaking, when taken out, they did not change their colour even after being exposed to air. Hmm...I wonder what is the least amount of time that the peaches have to be soaked in Vitamin C before they can retain their colour when placed outside? After all, most people would not soak their peaches for 9 hours before eating them!

~~~