Education Technology


Vernier - Energy in Food

Activity Overview

Students will use the temperature probe to measure temperature changes to measure and compare the energy content of different foods.

Objectives

In this experiment, you will:

  • Use a temperature probe to measure temperature changes.
  • Monitor the energy given off by food as it burns.
  • Determine and compare the energy content of different foods.

About the Lesson

The energy content of food can be determined by burning a portion of it and capturing the heat released to a known amount of water. This technique is called calorimetry. The energy content of the food is the amount of heat produced by the combustion of 1 gram of a substance. It is measured in kilojoules per gram (kJ/g). Students will be using the temperature probe to make this determination.