Department of Education
Good Enough to Eat (EAT)
Physicists have a part to play in most stages of food production. This chapter shows how the flow of liquids such as chocolate or sugar solutions is affected by concentration and temperature, and how these factors can be measured.
The photograph shows a student exploring elastic properties of sweets.Quality control requires that products are tested and so the students engage in the materials testing of wafers, mints and jellies, looking at such factors as hardness, brittleness and toughness.
The chapter also provides an opportunity to learn about instrumentation and calibration, to read a vernier scale and to consider and appreciate uncertainty in experimental measurement.
The main physics content areas are:
- Viscosity and liquid flow
- Mechanical properties of solid materials
- Refraction and polarisation