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Which Fruit Juice has the Most Vitamin C?

By Shoumik Chaudhuri & Ansh Kakar Introduction:


Question to Be Tested: Which fruit juice* contains the most Vitamin C I have read Our Hypothesis: We think the orange juice will contain the most Vitamin C because in health encyclopedias, they say that oranges mainly contain a lot of Vitamin C Purpose of Our Science Experiment: To find out which fruit juice contains the most Vitamin C, while also understanding the scientific process/experiment of Titration (scientific name of our experiment). Why we picked this Topic: Right off the back, we knew we were going to to do a chemistry project. Chemistry is our favorite form of science and we have been interested in in since 3rd grade. We wanted to do something original, outside-the-box. Not the typical, baking-soda-and vinegar-volcano type of project. So one day, we were doing some research on the Internet for some cool science fair projects and we came along this one. Of course, it did take some understanding from our parents, but eventually everything became clear, and we were really pumped-up to do this project! Background Facts: Titration is a chemical reaction where the acid and base react together to produce salt and water. Usually, an indicator is used in the Titration reaction which changes the color of the solution to indicate the end of a reaction. Titration is used by scientists to calculate the amount of solute in a solution. In our experiment, cornstarch would be the indicator, Vitamin C would be our solute and acid (Ascorbic acid ), water would be our solvent, and Tincture Iodine would be our base. As we add the iodine drop-by-drop, it will start reacting with the Vitamin C. Then, as soon as the Vitamin C will be finished, Iodine will not have any more Vitamin C to react with. So, it will start reacting with the cornstarch and produce a very complex organic compound. As a result, the solution will turn a deep blue color. This will indicate the end of the reaction. The more drops of iodine it takes to turn the solution dark blue, the more Vitamin C there is. To find out how much mg/ml of Vitamin C there is in the juice, divide the number of drops of iodine needed to react with the juice by the number of drops used to react with the Vitamin C solution. Vitamin C is a very essential nutrient to the human body because it stimulates our immune systems so you wont get sick. Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid which is why its the acid in our T itration experiment.

* Store-Bought 100% Fruit Juice

Methods: Materials
Iodine solution Corn starch 2 250mg Vitamin C tablets or 1 500mg Vitamin C tablet Fruit Juices (apple, lemon, and orange juice) Big Glass jar 500 ml measuring cup 20 ml measuring cup Eye dropper Two glasses

Steps:
1.Take a big glass jar and fill it up with 500 ml of water. 2.Crush one (500mg) or two (250 mg) tablet of vitamin C and put it in the jar, stir it well, until vitamin C tablet dissolves. 3.This way you'll get 1 mg/ml solution of vitamin C. 4.Measure 20 ml of that solution, bring it to another glass and add about half glass of water. This glass will contain 20 mg of vitamin C. 5. Now prepare starch solution. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of starch in small amount of cold water (1-2 tablespoons) and bring it into a half glass of boiling-hot water. Stir it well, until starch dissolves and let it cool. Take 4 drops of starch solution and add to the glass with 20 mg of Vitamin C. 6. Now, drop by drop, start adding in the iodine. As you add in the drops, stir them as well. Keep adding the iodine drop by drop until the the solution turns a stable,deep blue or black color. This will indicate the end of reaction. Make sure to remember how many drops of iodine it took to end the reaction. 7. Now, take 20 ml of juice, and add 1 teaspoon of the starch solution just like we did when we were preparing the Vitamin C solution. Make sure to stir it well until it dissolves. 8. Using the same dropper and iodine solution, start adding the iodine drop-by-drop. Stop when you see a good amount of black particles in the solution. Remember how many drops of iodine it took to end the reaction. 9. To find out how much mg/ml of Vitamin C there is in the juice, divide the number of * Store-Bought 100% Fruit Juice

drops of iodine needed to react with the juice by the number of drops needed to react with the Vitamin C solution. This formula will tell us how many mg per ml there will be in the juice. Vitamin C in juice(mg/ml)=Number of drops of Iodine used in juice/Number of drops of Iodine used in Vitamin C solution 10. Do steps 7-9 with all of the juices (orange,lemon,apple). 11. Repeat experiment as many times as possible.\ 12. Record data.

Bibliography 1. "Vitamin C Science Project." Science Projects. What I Can Do at Home? Web. 14
Dec. 2011. <http://www.scienceprojectlab.com/vitamin-C-science-project.html> 2.

* Store-Bought 100% Fruit Juice

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