Today in class we did our first science lab. Maddy and I took six test tubes and filled each with five mL of starch solution and one drop of iodine solution. We then proceeded to go around the room, and in each test tube we would put ten drops of a different sample.

 

After we added to starch solution.

 

After we added the iodine solution and before we mixed it.

 

After we mixed the iodine solution.

 

The first substance Maddy and I mixed into the test tube was pure Vitamin C solution. It had no smell or color, and when mixed with the iodine solution, became a very misty grey/blue.

 

The next substance was Strawberry Banana Juice, an orange substance that smelled like carrots. 80% of your daily vitamin C content is in this sample. As we mixed the SBJ into the test tube the iodine solution went from its original blue to a misty white with an orange tinge.

 

We mixed our third test tube with Gatorade, a deep blue liquid that smells like blueberries with an insufficient amount of Daily Vitamin C content. We noticed that after the iodine and Gatorade were mixed the test tube became a slightly deeper blue than it was before.

 

With our forth test tube we mixed 7UP, a clear substance that looked like water and smelled carbonated, it too had an insufficient amount of Daily Vitamin C content. When we mixed the contents there were no differences that we could see. I think that there were no differences in the 7UP and the Gatorade because in both samples there is little to no Vitamin C inside the drink, and that the boost in blue with the Gatorade sample was simply because of the color each sample already was.

 

Our second to last test tube was mixed with Iced Tea, a light yellow substance that smelled like lemonade and had a daily Vitamin C content of 140%, when we mixed this substance into the test tube the liquids combined went right back into it’s original state with the starch solution before we added the iodine solution, completely white and without color.

 

As our last test tube sample we used blueberry juice, which was red, smelled like blueberries, and had a Daily Vitamin C content of 15%, when we mixed the blueberry juice with the iodine the liquid turned into a mistier, lighter blue, than the original blue.

 

In conclusion to our first lab in science, looking back at our calculations I notice that the chemical changes that took place in the test tubes regarding color increased in its depigmentation the higher the number of the Daily Vitamin Content went up, 7UP being the substance with the least chemical change, and iced tea with the most.

 

I think we did this activity to get a first hands-on experience with a chemical from the periodic table and how it reacts with another substance, I learned from this experiment that high amounts of Vitamin C have a strong chemical reaction with Iodine, perhaps acidic even, and that the higher the quantity of Vitamin C present in the liquid, the more color pigment will be lost from the mixture. It’s important to know the different reactions chemicals with one another because they could be as small and simple as a color change, or they could blow up in our faces, so we have to learn to beware early on so that we can move on to the cooler experiments.