Flaming Food and the Law of Conservation of Energy

Created By:

Amy Taylor

Hazelwood Central High School

To Teacher Page To Activity

Teacher Page

• Grade Level: 10

• MAP Content Standards: – The learner will b able to understand that

energy change in a given process can be quantified.

• Tips for Classroom Use:– Preview the activity before using it with your

class.

• Journaling:– This activity is intended to be used in

conjunction with journaling.– The notebook icon will prompt the student

when to journal in their notebooks.

Focus on the process of problem solving with your

student…they need to understand not only the facts,

but the reasoning behind them. Have them write their thoughts on paper and then

discuss them as a class.

Flaming Food and the Law of Conservation of Energy

The Law of Conservation of Energy states:

In an insulated system, energy can neither be created nor destroyed by ordinary means, but it can be changed from one form to another.

Create a list of different forms of energy.

Did you include…

• Kinetic Energy

• Potential Energy

• Solar Energy

• Chemical Energy

• Light Energy• Mechanical Energy• Nuclear Energy• Heat Energy• Electromagnetic

Energy

Our bodies take advantage of this law to obtain energy from foods.

• The energy is measured in Dietary Calories…the higher the caloric value of a food item, the more energy it contains.

• Dietary Calories are actually equal to 1000 calories and 1 calorie has enough energy to raise the temperature of 1 ml of water 1°C.

A Calorimeter can be used to measure the amount of energy in food. Here’s how it works...• A piece of food is

burned below a container of water.

• A thermometer is used to measure any change in temperature that may result.

Think about it...1. How does taking the temperature of the water indicate the amount of energy in the food?

2. How can the change in temperature of the water be useful to determine the number of calories in the food?

3. How was the Law of Conservation of Energy used in this experiment?

Using your knowledge of the Law of Conservation of Energy

and procedure for using the calorimeter you just saw…are there any possible sources of

error in an experiment like this?