Which brand of popcorn pops the most?

 Purpose:

The purpose of this experiment is to determine which brand of popcorn is the most cost efficient by comparing prices and the amount of kernels popped.

 Hypothesis:

We hypothesize that Orville Redenbacher popcorn will pop the most kernels in all because it cost the most per kernel.

Introduction:

Popcorn is a light, highly popular snack throughout the United States and is probably native to the Central American Indians who grew corn for more than 1000 years before the arrival of European explorers in the 1400s and the 1500’s.  There are two main types of popcorn, pearl popcorn and rice popcorn.  Pearl popcorn has rounded kernels that are usually yellow or orange in color.  Rice popcorn, also called hulless popcorn, has pointed, white kernels.  Most popcorn is a variant of flint corn with small kernels of great hardness.  Popcorn kernels have a very hard endosperm with a small amount of moist starch in the center.  When heated, steam created inside the kernels; moist center causes the kernel to expand or pop open.  When the steam is released in the small explosion, the kernel is turned inside out” and the soft center becomes filed with air.

Popcorn pops best when the kernels contain about thirteen percent moisture, and will expand to thirty or forty times their original sizes when popped.

 Materials:

• 1 popcorn popper

• 1 jar Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn

• 1 jar Act II popcorn

• 1 bag Kroger brand popcorn

• 3 bowls

• 1 roll paper towels

• 1 roll Reynolds aluminum foil

Procedure:

First count one hundred kernels of corn from three brands of popcorn, Orville Redenbacher, Kroger, and Act II.  Pop the kernels from each brand one at a time.  At the completion of the popping for each brand, count the number of unpopped kernels.  Repeat this process for each brand a total of three times.  Average the results of the three trials for the individual brands.  Compare the averaged results for each brand and the price per kernel of each brand.

  Results:

 The data gathered through our experiment does not support he hypothesis that Orville Redenbacher will pop the most kernels because it cost the most per kernel.  The results show that Act I Premium Theater popcorn, which cost $0.002 per kernel, popped on average 93 out of 100 kernels.  Orville Redenbacher, which cost $0.13 per kernel, popped on an average 84 out of 100 kernels.  Kroger brand popcorn, which cost %0.03 per kernel, only popped on average 81 out of 100 kernels.

 Conclusion:

 Because of our data we can conclude that the brand that cost the most per kernel does not pop the most popcorn.  This shows that the price of the popcorn does not reflect the quality of the kernel.