Blog Four

Today I conducted ‘Scientific Research’ on my experiment. However, this was challenging and time consuming because I found it difficult to understand complex terms of crystallisation and polymorphism. I know for a fact that polymorphism is when an object is able to occur in many different forms. From my Research I have found that Cocoa Butter is a polymorphic fat from chocolate that has the ability to melt chocolate due to its six different crystal forms. Further information is as follows.

Does the amount of Cocoa Butter affect the Melting Speeds of Different Types of Chocolates?

 

What is Chocolate made From?
Chocolate is made from Cocoa Beans, derived from a Cocoa Pod. Together, they are found on the Cacao Tree; renowned for the growing of ripe fruits. At the end of the long production process including harvesting and roasting, the cocoa beans are ground into cocoa powder, built from seeds that are dry from the pod.  Other components including Fat, Vanilla, Sugar, Vitamin E, Calcium, Iron, and Caffeine are found within chocolate too.

Why does Chocolate Melt?
Chocolate melts because it contains cocoa butter. This is the natural vegetable fat that is found within the bean itself. The known temperature of its melting point is approximately 36 Degrees Celsius (97 Degrees Fahrenheit), that is usually however not always, and becomes automatically sensitive to the changing of a state of matter when temperatures are raised even somewhat.

What is Cocoa Butter? /The introduction of Polymorphism
Cocoa Butter is a polymorphic fat of the Cocoa Bean. What this means is that it changes into a fluid state when exposed to heat because it is made up of six different crystal forms, meaning that the atoms within the chocolate are constant but positioned differently. This often calls for the chocolates’ distinguished properties, such as smoothness, strength, texture, melting point and glossy attraction. So accordingly, when chocolate is heated the particle bonds inside begin to vibrate and move around as they have gained more thermal energy, causing them to reform in shape; the crystal structure of the cocoa butter in the chocolate has changed, making the difference between solid chocolate and one that has started to melt easy to pinpoint. This is because cocoa butter has formed small Beta Crystals found within chocolate bars making them stable as they are, for extended periods of time.   

The table displays the polymorphism of Cocoa Butter and its six different crystal forms. It indicates that the degree of the melting temperature/point of chocolate is determined through various states of solidifying, cooling and melting, which helps in determining whether Cocoa Butter affects the melting speeds of different chocolates. This is so because when chocolate melts the Beta Crystal loosen and spread further apart making them no longer of a solid form but rather that of a fluid appearance, meaning that the more cocoa butter in a chocolate, then the higher chance of melting will take place.

 

 

SOURCE ONE: INTERNET
RSC, (n.d.). Retrieved: March 1, 2014, from http://www.rsc.org/Education/Teachers/Resources/Inspirational/resources/4.1.4.pdf
Sefcik, L. 2014, How does Chocolate Melt?. Retrieved: March 1, 2014, from http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5006509_chocolate-melt.html
Ask.com, Why Does Chocolate Melt?. Retrieved: March 1, 2014, from http://www.ask.com/question/why-does-chocolate-melt
Deakin University Australia. 2013,Chocolate. Retrieved: March 1, 2013, from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Chocolate
Thomson, W. 2014, How Does the Type of Chocolate Affect the Melting Time?. Retrieved: March 1, 2014, from  http://www.ehow.com/info_8319971_type-chocolate-affect-melting-time.html

SOURCE TWO: VIDEO
Science: An Easier Way to Temper Chocolate (FLV Picture), 2013, America’s Test Kitchen., America. Producer America’s Test Kitchen.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5_kheJtQO4

SORUCE 3:COMPANY
Mondelez International Group. 2014, Cadbury Dream Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Blocks-of-Chocolate/Cadbury-Dream-Block/Cadbury-Dream-Ingredients.aspx
Mondelez International Group. 2014, Cadbury Milk Chocolate Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Blocks-of-Chocolate/Cadbury-Milk-Chocolate-Block/Cadbury-Milk-Chocolate-Ingredients.aspx
Mondelez Internation Group. 2014, Cadbury Old Gold Original Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Old-Gold-Blocks/Cadbury-Old-Gold-Original-Block/Ingredients.aspx

 However, through heavy investigation and research the formula for finding the exact amount of Cocoa Butter in a block of Chocolate as a percentage is as follows.

-First, you must divide the ‘Total Fat Content by the ‘Serving Size’ (Fat/Size).
-Next, you multiply this result by 100. This gives the amount of Cocoa Butter Present as a Percentage.
For example;
Cadbury Old Gold Original Chocolate: 7.4g/25g=0.296 x 100=29.6%
Cadbury Milk Chocolate: 7.4g/25g=0.296 x 100=29.6%
Cadbury Dream Chocolate: 8.7g/25=0.348 x 100=34.8%

SOURCE ONE: INTERNET
Gordon, C. 2014, The Chocolate Life. Retrieved: March 1, 2014, from http://www.thechocolatelife.com/profile/LB

 

Blog Three

I am starting to get slightly worried about my SRP at this point. I have re-considered my title from ‘Which Type of Chocolate Melts the Fastest?’ to ‘Does the Amount of Cocoa Butter affect the Melting Speeds of Different Types of Chocolates?’ This is because through my research I have found that Cocoa Butter is essentially, what makes chocolate melt, and is more specific to what I am doing, and I am hoping that it will be more beneficial for me when doing further research and conducting my experiment and writing up my experimental report.

I visited the Cadbury Website Company as I am using this Brand of Chocolate for my experiment, in the hope of finding out how much Cocoa Butter is used within their Dark, White and Milk Chocolates. However, it was unsuccessful. Instead their website told me the amount of Cocoa Solid Contents in each chocolate.

·         Milk Chocolate=26% Cocoa Solids.

·         Dark Chocolate=45% Cocoa Solids.

·         White Chocolate=24% Cocoa Solids.
Mondelez International Group. 2014, Cadbury Dream Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Blocks-of-Chocolate/Cadbury-Dream-Block/Cadbury-Dream-Ingredients.aspx Mondelez International Group. 2014, Cadbury Milk Chocolate Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Blocks-of-Chocolate/Cadbury-Milk-Chocolate-Block/Cadbury-Milk-Chocolate-Ingredients.aspx
Mondelez Internation Group. 2014, Cadbury Old Gold Original Ingredients. Retrieved: February 17, 2014, from https://www.cadbury.com.au/Products/Old-Gold-Blocks/Cadbury-Old-Gold-Original-Block/Ingredients.aspx

Consequently, I decided to email the Cadbury Company, wondering if they could tell me the exact amounts of Cocoa Butter in their Milk, Dark and White Chocolates. If they do to reply to me within the next few days, I am hoping on ringing the company. Below is evidence of my conduct.

 

Blog Two

For the past couple of days, I have been thinking about my SRP very closely and have taken into consideration what my teacher; Mrs Kleine suggests that I do. After speaking to her in class this week, Mrs Kleine believes that my original idea of testing which brands of soft drink cans will sink and float when placed in water, is somewhat risky in which I do not know the exact contents of gas, resulting in a set back and other little differences between the cans, making it harder for me to explain and evaluate upon the legitimate reasoning of the sinking and floating. I then told her about my idea of testing shampoo brands to see which one causes the most amount of lather. She was very happy with this idea and said that it would be much more simple and interesting for me to test. Unfortunately, I do not feel the same way. Both ideas appear boring and I will lack enthusiasm going into the completing of the experiments, if I were to conduct one of them.

A new idea came to mind; ‘Which type of Chocolate Melts the Fastest’. I am very much interested in this idea, considering my love of food and overall curiosity of the topic. Not only this, but as per present, all appliances are available to me, and I believe that I will have great fun in the kitchen as usual. I didn’t hesitate in starting Part A of my SRP that is the ‘Research’ Section. It is not entirely finished at the moment, but what I have learnt so far through my conduct is how Chocolate is made from bean to bar, what chocolate is made up of primarily, and also that Cocoa Butter is what makes Chocolate melt. This research is only small, and throughout the rest of week, I hope to complete my investigation, to write up an aim and a hypothesis at least. I also hope to post some of this research and my used sources in my coming blogs.   

 

Blog One

Today, I created my SRP Blog Account in my Blogger Profile. However, I had some difficulties doing this because I was using the same blog account in which I had made from a previous year and worked on, to construct a blog for my SRP. This was a difficulty because it caused confusion in my mind, with naming the blog account, and adhering to the same, yet appropriate blog name that was suitable for my SRP. Though, after experimenting with different links and familiarising myself with Blogger again, I noticed that my two existing Accounts (that is, my SRP and the account made in a previous year), did not affect each other in any way and the work that I was to post online. I was relieved that I could proceed with my blogging, because it meant that I didn’t have to waste valuable time trying to delete my other Blog Account and create a new Google Account.

I have also been thinking wisely about an idea for my SRP and identifying a problem. This in itself is a major task I positively believe, because I need to ensure that my results are quantitative and my variables are coherent with what I am conducting an experiment for, and that my actual experiment is realistic and will support me extensively when producing my Experimental Report. At present, I have come up with the following idea, ‘What types of Brands of Soft Drink Cans will float and Sink in Water.’ I have approached my Teacher, Mrs Kleine, about my idea, and she believes that it may be more challenging for me to complete this as an experiment because there are many factors that will determine what causes the floating or sinking, hence forth I will need to work harder in establishing my variables. In saying so, I came up with another idea ‘Which Brand of Shampoo produces the most Lather.’ I’m thinking that this may possibly be easier in terms of establishing variables; however, I am currently, indecisive. Tomorrow I hope to approach my Teacher again with my thoughts and ideas, and hopefully she approves of one of the ideas so that I can conduct my research as soon as possible.