Activity
2: See the Vitamin C? CAUTION: DO NOT DRINK IODINE OR FOOD WITH IODINE
ON IT!
I
C!
In this experiment, you'll find out how much Vitamin
C in your food. Having plenty of Vitamin C will help
you to have healthy teeth, gums, and blood vessels.
You
Will Need:
Measuring
device in milliliters or cups
Eyedropper
Iodine
Cornstarch
Water
Drinking
Glasses
Spoons
Fruit
juice (or juice strained from a fruit)
Other
food or liquid samples, such as milk or meat (but
it needs to be liquefied)
Something
that can heat the mixture
What
to Do:
Measure
1 tablespoon of cornstarch and pour into a drinking
glass. Add just enough water to make it pasty.
Measure
250 milliliters (3 1/8 cup) of water and pour this
into the same drinking glass.
Mix
the solution until the starch dissolves. You
may need to heat it in order to make it dissolve
faster.
Measure
75 milliliters (1 cup) of water and pour into a different
drinking glass. Then add ten drops of
starch to the water with the eyedropper. This
dilutes the iodine so it’s not as strong.
Then
add enough iodine to this mixture that it reacts
with the starch and turns a darkish blue/purple.
Now
measure 5 milliliters (1/10 cup) of the iodine/starch
mixture and pour into a separate drinking glass.
Add
10 drops of the fruit juice. If the mixture
becomes clearer, there is Vitamin C present. Vitamin
C makes iodine lose its color.
You
can use the iodine solution to test some other drinks
and foods (liquefied or blended, of course!) The
clearer the mixture, the more Vitamin C there is. Make
sure you clean the eyedropper with water each time
you use it.
