Jarrett Starr, Andrew Reynolds, Aaray Christian, Hailey Vallone

Bubble Gum Lab

Question we’re trying to answer: Which brand of gum is the stretchiest, dude?

Hypothesis: If we chew each gum type for a total of five minutes then Extra will have the
highest elasticity out of all of the gum types.

Some controlled variables to consider:

-Time when chewing gum
-Gum brands
-Gum flavor
-Gum mass per stick

We cannot have a control group, because we are testing different gum types. The
difference between a control variable and a control group is a control variable pertains to a
certain aspect of the experiment, and a control group is many aspects of the experiment.

To organize our data, we will create an excel spreadsheet with the three gum types, three trials
each. We will each chew one stick, once. Then, we will stretch the gum until it breaks, and
measure how far the gum was able to reach. The data will be averaged to choose a winner.

Qualitative data pertains to the characteristics of the data, such as flavor and color.
Quantitative data pertains to the numerical characteristics of the data, such as how far it can
stretch.

Procedure:

1. Gather three willing participants to chew the different gum types, and gather the
materials required to perform the experiment.
-Wrigley’s Doublemint (3 pieces)
-Extra Spearmint (3 pieces)
-Five gum Spearmint (3 pieces)
-Meter stick (2)
-Paper (2.5 meters)
-Graph Paper (1)
-Water Fountain (1)
-Latex gloves (2 per person)
2. Have each participant go to the water fountain and get some water and swish in their
mouths for 30 seconds.
3. Have the group chew one piece of five gum each for a total of five minutes.
4. Once the five minute duration has passed, have the participants place the chewed gum
on the paper, next to the meter stick. Stretch the the gum as far as it will reach until it breaks.
Record the value in a chart.
 5. Repeat steps 2,3,and 4 twice with the other gum brands.
6. Average the data collected in another column to determine the stretchiest gum type.
Data Table
Gum Brand Participant #1 Participant #2 Participant #3 Average stretch
length(meters)

“Doublemint” 1.58m 1.56m 1.65m 1.59m

stretch
length(meters)

“5” stretch 1.10m 1.70m 1.48m 1.42m

length(meters)

“Extra” stretch 1.92m 1.98m 1.93m 1.94m

length(meters)

Graph

Using the data collected, the best option would be a bar graph. On the x-axis, the gum
brand will be on it. On the y-axis, the length in meters with a range from 1 to 2 with increments
of 0.1. There will be a bar per participant, per for each brand of gum. Then there will be a bar
with the average length of stretch for each gum brand. This means that for each brand of gum
on the x-axis, there should be four bars.

Conclusions: From the data we collected, there is sufficient evidence that the brand “Extra” is
the stretchiest gum out of the three brands we tested. This evidence is sufficient because there
was minimal sources of error and we tested each gum brand three times. “Extra” was Commented [1]: Never assume there's minimal
determined to be the stretchiest gum from our data because not only is the average stretch sources of error. Always be conservative in your
supposition.
value the highest, but every participant found that it was the highest length from the other two
tested. The runner-up was “Doublemint”, then the least stretchiest brand was “5” gum. A larger
source of error that we determined was the rate each person chews may vary in the designated
five minutes. The rate of chewing could allow for one person’s gum to be less tense than
someone who didn’t chew as hard. Another source of error was with using the water fountain to
rinse your mouth. The rinsing from one person to the other may be more vigorous and allow for
a cleaner mouth.
Variables that affected the outcome of this experiment include how the gum was
stretched, meaning that the gum from person to person may have stretched their gum differently
than another participant. On the paper we used the testing of stretchiness, there were gum
remains from previous trials, meaning it wasn’t tested in the same location. The temperature of
the water in the water fountain varied from time to time depending on the time that handle was
held down. The time each participant put the gum in their mouth to start chewing varied from
participant to participant. This could mean that people might have had longer to chew than
someone else.
From the sources of error we identified, we determined that instead of using a public
water fountain we could use a community water that was collected at once, and measure out
equal amounts of rinse water for each participant. Another way we could improve the lab would
be to clean off the paper where we tested, so that we could test all gum in the same location.
Another way we could improve the quality of our lab would be to have someone watch when
people put the gum in their mouth so no one gets extra time to chew their gum.
Qualitative data is collecting values such as taste, texture, chewiness, etc. and
quantitative is data collected in the form of a numerical value. This lab was a quantitative lab as
we collected a measurement of the maximum stretch length. This experiment really couldn’t be
improved in terms of qualitative or quantitative because when determining which gum is most
stretchy, you really only care about the stretch length. Variables that are qualitative we wouldn’t
need as they don’t add value to figuring out which brand is the stretchiest.