Laboratory Investigation 

Energy In Food

 

 

 

Introduction

Did you ever wonder how scientists know how much energy is in the foods we eat?  When you look at the package that food comes in, it tells you how much energy it contains.  How do they know that?

What do we need to know before we start?

  1. Energy can be measured using a unit called the calorie.  Joules are also valid but in this experiment we will use calories.
  2. The definition of a calorie is the following:  One calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius.  Read that over a few times and learn it. You will need to know it.

On the next page we will see what we will need in order to do the experiment...

Next page >>