THE STUDY OF GUMMY BEARS SOAKED IN DIFFERENT LIQUIDS FOR

DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF TIME

Emily Grimm

Cary Academy

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine how much gummy bears grew in different

liquids, and heats. The introduction explains how a gummy bear expands in different

liquids because it absorbs the liquids, causing the gummy bear to swell. Gummy bears

were put in to different liquids and different heats. The materials and method section

talks about the experiments that were conducted. The gummy bears grew in all of the

liquids, except corn starch, and the gummy bears would only grow in room temperature

liquids. In the results and discussion, it shows what has happened to the gummy bears.

The liquid was absorbed by the gummy bear, causing them to expand in the liquid. In

the hot and cold water, the bear was room temperature and when put in to different

heats; it didn’t have the capability to grow.

INTRODUCTION

Gummy bears are a yummy, sweet, sticky treat that many people enjoy. They are a

popular treat that many people know and love. The main ingredients that go in to a

gummy bear are starch, gelatin, sugar, and corn syrup. Gelatin is rendered from the

skin, cartilage, and bones of animals. To make gummy bears these ingredients are

weighed, mixed, and pumped into a special candy cooker. This candy cooker is 128 foot

long stainless steel coil. It cooks candy by steam outside of the coil. Then the cooker

pumps the gummy into a vacuum chamber. This chamber removes excess moisture.

From the vacuum chamber the gummy goes to a mix station. Here colors, flavors, acids,

and fruit concentrates are mixed into the gummy starch. Next the gummy candies are

put into a machine called Mogul. Mogul is a starch molding machine that pumps starch

into mold boards that shape the gummy candies. After drying the gummies, they are

removed from the molds and packaged, delivered, and sold.

In gummy bears there is a large amount of sugar. There is also lots of sugar in the

human body. Sugar can affect the human body in many ways. Some of the affects that

sugar produces are good and some are bad. One of the good things that sugar does for

the human body is; it creates energy and goes into the body. Humans need energy to

function, and one of the best ways to get it is from sugar. Though it is good to eat sugar,

it is not good to eat too much of it. People don’t eat gummy bears to get sugar though;

they eat them because they are a tasty treat. The sugar flows in the blood stream at a

slower absorption rate, which is healthy for the human body. The bad thing about sugar

is that sometimes people eat way too much of it. This can affect the human body, and

this is not healthy. Since one of the gummy bear’s main ingredients is sugar, people

may eat more than they are supposed to. Having too much sugar in a human’s body is

may be bad, and can cause sickness. If lots of sugar is injected into one’s body, that

can cause stomach aches and can make people feel nauseous and gross. Since there

is lots of sugar in a gummy bear, it is good to only eat the right amount of gummy bears.

Eating to many can be very harming to one’s body, because of the amount of sugar.

When gummy bear candies are put into water they expand. This is because of

absorption and swelling. Swelling is the enlargement of a body part or organ beyond its

normal size and usually causes a distortion of the shape and structure of the affected

area. Substances in the gummy bear that give it solidity are glucose, starch and gelatin.

All of these substances can absorb water. However, while water can be absorbed, the

starch and gelatin are prevented from dissolving in water. The water molecules flow in

to the gummy bear, causing it to swell. There are many ways for the water to go in to

the gummy bear; however there are only a few ways for the water to flow out of the

gummy. This makes the gummy bear swell, not keep its size or dissolve. This

concludes, making the water swell the gummy bear rather than dissolving it.

Figure 1- This explains the procedure of osmosis, diffusion, absorption and swelling.

This leads to osmosis and diffusion. Osmosis and diffusion are the main part to what the

gummy bear does in the water. When the gummy bear is placed in to a liquid for

different amounts of time water flows in and out of the gummy bear. Diffusion is the

movement of molecules from and area of high concentration to an area with low

concentration. Diffusion proceeds this process until the two areas are equal. Diffusion

only occurs in gasses and liquids. Osmosis is water diffusion. Meaning, that it is

diffusion in water. Osmosis only occurs in water. Osmosis is the diffusion of water,

because of this it is the movement of water molecules to an area with a low

concentration of molecules. Diffusion and Osmosis makes the gummy bear swell.

The hypothesis for this experiment was that Hawaiian Punch would make the gummy

bear grow the most. This was because the Hawaiian Punch had most sugar out of all of

the liquids. It was thought that sugar would make the gummy bear expand. This was

thought because there is so much sugar in a gummy bear that it would absorb it

quickest, and Hawaiian punch had the most sugar out of all of the different liquids used

in the experiment.

Sindhoor Ambati did an experiment on the study of time affecting marshmallow size.

This was almost the same as growing gummy bears; however it was growing

marshmallows in the microwave. In this experiment she added water to them and with

each drip had a different result.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

The materials used in this experiment were, a hot plate, gummy bears, Hawaiian punch,

diet coke, corn syrup, water, V8 vegetable juice, cups, beakers, and thermometer.

A gummy bear was placed in 200 mL of water for 5, 10, and 15 min. The gummy bear

was immediately taken out after each time frame and put next to a ruler and measured.

It was then weighed. For each time period this process repeated two more times.

For the first follow up experiment, a gummy bear was placed in to different liquids such

as, Diet Coke, Hawaiian Punch, Water, and V8 vegetable juice. It was soaked in 200

mL. The gummy bear was soaked in each of these liquids for ten min. It was then taken

out immediately and placed next to a ruler, and measured. It was then immediately

weighed. This process was repeated three times for each juice, or liquid.

For the second follow up experiment, gummy bears were placed in Hawaiian Punch, V8

vegetable juice, and Diet Coke for different amounts of time. They were placed in each

of these liquids for 10 min, 30 min, 1 day, and 3 days. After each time period they were

immediately taken out to be measured and weighed. This process was repeated two

more times for each time period, and each juice

For the third follow up experiment, gummy bears were placed into 200 mL of hot, 40

degrees Water, for ten min. They were also placed in room temperature water and cold

water for ten min. After ten min they were taken out of the water, and measured and

weighed. Then this process repeated with Hawaiian Punch, to test if it had the same

results as the hot and cold water did. This process with hot, cold, and room temperature

water and Hawaiian Punch was done three times for each. And then an average was

taken.

RESULTS

A gummy bear weighed the least when put in water for 5 min. It grew the most then put

in for 15. This is because it had more time to expand. A gummy bear cannot absorb lots

of water for 5 or 10 min. This is because it needs time to be able to absorb the liquid.

When placed in water for only 5 or 10 min., it is still getting used to the water, and does

not have much time after getting used to the water.

Figure 2 The weight of the gummy bear, according to the amount of time put in to the water.

The least weight was gained when the bear was put into the water for five min. The

most weight gained was when the bear was put in to the water for 15 min. This is

because it could not absorb, (to make it weigh more) as much in a smaller time frame.

The reason that it only grew little bits in the smaller time periods is because it didn’t

have enough time to absorb. When it absorbs, it grows bigger and weighs more than

when it first did.

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Figure 3 the amount the gummy bear grew, according to the amount of time put in water.

The gummy bear weighed the most in water after a time period of ten min. The gummy

bear grew the least in V8 and Corn Syrup. The reason it didn’t grow at all in V8

vegetable juice and Corn Syrup is because the liquids are both thicker than the other

liquids, making it harder to absorb. The gummy has corn starch in it, so it is also hard

for it to absorb more of it.

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Figure 4 the amount the gummy bear weighed, according to different liquids.

The gummy bear grew most in the Diet Coke. It grew the least in Corn Syrup. It grew

the most in Diet Coke because it is very sugary, and thin, this makes it rather easy for

the bear to absorb. The corn syrup is too thick for the gummy to absorb in a little time.

Figure 5 the amount the gummy bear grew, according to different liquids.

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The gummy bear weighed the most in water after 72 hours. The gummy bear weighed

the least after being in Hawaiian punch for 10 min. This is because when put in a liquid

for a long amount of time, it gives the bear more time to absorb, making the bear bigger

and weigh more.

Figure 6 the growth increase, according to the different times and liquids.

The gummy bear grew most in the vegetable juice for 72 hours. The gummy bear grew

the least when in Hawaiian Punch for ten min. The reason was because it was a long

time period, and longer gives the bear more time to absorb the liquid.

0

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0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

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grew

(g)

Amount of time placed in different liquids (min)

Vegetable Juice

Hawaiian Punch

Water

Figure 7 the gained weighed, according to the different liquids and times.

The gummy bears grew the most in regular water. It grew the least in the hot and cold

water. The reason for this is because if the gummy bear is room temperature and is

placed into hot or cold water, the gummy bear isn’t use to this and takes a while to get

used to it. It gets used to room temperature water because it is the same temperature

as the bear is.

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Amount of time placed in different liquids (min)

Vegetable Juice

Hawaiian Punch

Water

Figure 8 the amount grown according to different temperature of the water.

DISCUSSION

In the first experiment, the gummy bears grew larger as time increased, but as time

increased more, the gummy bears stopped growing. This is because after a while the

gummy bear has absorbed so much liquid that it is full and is unable to absorb more.

When a gummy bear was placed in a liquid, the liquid was absorbed into the gummy

bear causing it to expand. As the time increased the gummy bear grew bigger,

absorbing more because it had enough time to. There were many ways for the liquid to

get into the bear, but not many ways to get out. Once the gummy candy was out of

water, if not measured and weighed quickly enough, the bear will start to become

smaller. This is not a quick process though. The liquid wanted to get out of the bear, but

because of the speed that the gummy was absorbing the liquid, it took a while. In

conclusion, the gummy bear expanded as time in increased, but as time increased

more, it stayed the same, because it couldn’t absorb any more.

0.54

0.56

0.58

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0.72

Normal Cold Water Hot Water Regular Water

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Temperature of water (F)

In the 1st follow-up, the gummy bear was placed in to 200 mL of water, Hawaiian punch,

Diet Coke, and Corn Syrup. In almost every liquid, the gummy bear grew larger with few

min, but not a ton. This may be because it didn’t have time to absorb the liquid. The

gummy did not grow a lot because it could not absorb lots of water in a small amount of

time. When more time was added the gummy bear grew larger. In conclusion, the gummy

bear is almost always affected by being in the liquid. It does not have a dramatic impact of

the size and weight when put in for minimum amounts of time.

In the 2nd follow-up, the gummies were put into Hawaiian punch, water, and V8

vegetable juice. They were put in to these liquids for different times. The gummy bears

grew and weighed more with more time. In some of the liquids, the bear weighed more,

but barley grew. A reason for this was because it didn’t grow tall; it absorbed, and grew

wide. This made it weigh more, but not grow as much. In conclusion, water, Hawaiian

punch, and V8 vegetable juice helps expansion and weight to some extent however,

sometimes they weigh more than they have grown because of the way that they gummy

bear absorbed the liquid.

In the 3rd follow-up, the gummy bear grew larger when the room in the temperature

rather than the cold or hot water. This reason is because the hot and cold water was

different to the room temperature bear. When the bear was placed into different

temperatures, it isn’t use to it, and ten minutes wasn’t enough to give the bear time to

do much. This is why the gummy didn’t react to the different temperatures. In

conclusion, the cold and hot water didn’t affect the gummy bear, because when a room

temperature gummy bear was placed into a hot or cold liquid, it isn’t use to it and didn’t

have time to do much.

CONCLUSION:

The gummy bear got larger and weighed more. After about 24 hours it stopped growing,

because it couldn’t absorb anymore. When put in to all of the liquids for 10, 30, 24

hours, and 72 hours, it grew. In the 10 and 30 minute time period it didn’t grow as much

because it didn’t have enough time to. In the hot and cold water, the bear didn’t grow at

all and in the room temperature it grew though. The hypothesis was proven incorrect; it

was thought that the gummy would grow the most in the Hawaiian Punch. This was

wrong because it grew the most in the water; the reason for this is because the water

doesn’t have tons and tons of sugar or artificial flavoring, making it easy for the gummy

bear to absorb. A follow up experiment could be, would a gummy worm do the same

thing? If a gummy bear is made out of different substances, then it may be possible for

them to not grow, or to grow more.

Sindhoor Ambati discovered that when more time is added the marshmallows grew in

the micro- wave. She also realized that after too long, they deflated and didn’t grow

anymore.

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