Fat Separation Demonstration

Introduction:

In today's society it seems that students consume a large amount of their food from snack foods in vending machines. In an attempt to show students the amount of fat that they consume from a typical bag of chips (which usually is about 3 servings) you can separate the fat from the potato chips. Most students will be amazed at the amount of fat and oil that present in potato chips.

Background for the teacher:

This lab does require the use of solvents and it is a time consuming lab for a 50 minute period. Thus, you may want to set this up as a demonstration for time and safety reasons.

Materials:

Bag of chips from the vending machine at school.
Mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
Acetone
Ether
Water
500 ml beaker
Stirring rod
500 ml separation funnel
Funnel stand
Scale

Procedure:

1. Grind a bag of chips using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
2. Place 50g chips and 100ml acetone into a beaker and stir.
3. Transfer the chips and acetone mixture into a separatory funnel. Make sure the funnel is closed.
4. Add 25 ml ether
5. Add water as needed to facilitate phase separation.
6. This could take 30 minutes to see the full effect.

Extensions:

You may also grind a frozen candy bar to see the fat content instead of chips.

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