Sheridan+P14

Sheridan P 2013-2014
 * TESTING THE EFFECT RIPENING HAS ON THE pH OF APPLES, LEMONS, AND ORANGES **

The experiment was performed to determine if the ripeness of fruit affected its pH level and smell intensity. It was hypothesized that the ripeness of the fruit would result in a higher pH level. The experiment was performed by squeezing out the oranges and lemons and taking a core sample of apples and allowing the juice to drain into a plastic tub, and measuring the juice with a pH probe. The smell intensity was determined by smelling of ammonia and using that as a smell intensity of 10. Then, each fruit was smelled each week. The results of the experiment were: the smell intensity of fruit increases with ripening, but the pH of fruit fluctuates randomly as the fruit ripens. As an example, the smell intensity of an apple on a scale of one to ten was: 1 when the apple was new, 2 when the apple had 1 week to ripen, and 3 when it had 2 weeks to ripen. The apple’s pH was 3.9 when the apple was new, 3.8 when the apple had 1 week to ripen, and 4 when it had 2 weeks to ripen.
 * ABSTRACT **

The experiment could be improved by storing the fruit separately, and in the open air. It could also be improved by running the juice through a very fine strainer so that the solid parts of the fruit could not be measured. The beakers could have been dried after thoroughly rinsing them to prevent water from affecting the results of the experiment. Lastly, the fruit could have been tested at a higher frequency (such as every three days). A future experiment could be to find how sugar affects the pH of different liquids. This would help determine if sugars being released into the fruit from the ripening process could have affected the experiment.
 * EXPERIMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FUTURE EXPERIMENTS **

To see the full Independent Science Project Paper, click on the PDF file link below.