2. Methods

1. Methods
1. Equipment List

- Hollow Prism (x1)

- Laser Pointer (x1)

- 50x10x2cm Block of wood (x1)

- Carbonated Sugary Drinks (x6)

- Rag (x1)

- Marker (x1)

- Boiled Water [500ml(5x100ml)]

- Fine White Sugar [30g(5g+10g+15g)]

- Duct Tape (30cm)

- Spoon (x1)

- Beaker [x3(for sugar and water solution)]

- 30cm Ruler (x1)

- Weighing Balance (x1)

- Hot Glue Gun (x1)

2. Diagram(s) of experimental setup

L = Distance between the hollow prism and the block of wood

X = Distance the laser dot ends up from the control point(Plain Water)

Figure 4: Experimental setup used to find the sugar concentration of carbonated sugary drinks using a hollow prism.

3. Procedure

1. Cut a piece of acrylic plastic (15x20cm) into the shape of a rectangle(15x5cm) using a penknife. Measure and mark the 2 lines with a marker as you divide the length of the plastic piece into 3 equal parts. Using a heating wire, heat up the line and bend the acrylic into the shape of an equilateral hollow prism.
2. Use a hot glue gun to glue up the parts where the two ends of the hollow prism meet and glue the hollow prism to the plastic cut out previously which will be used as the base of the prism.
3. Set up the experiment as shown in the diagram above.(Line X = Block of wood)
4. Pour plain tap water (without sugar) into the hollow prism.
5. Use tape to mark out where to place the objects required to do the experiment is. This will be used as the control point.
6. Shine the laser through the hollow prism onto the piece of wood. Ensure that the short blue line(in the picture above) needs to be parallel to that of the base of the prism.
7. Mark down on the wood where the laser dot ends up with a marker/pen. This marking will be our control marking (without sugar).
8. Repeat the experiment with water (to be used as comparison) with known concentrations of sugar(5g/100ml, 10g/100ml, 15g/100ml.)
9. After testing all sugar and water solutions and marking where the laser is refracted, experiment with the other different kinds of carbonated sugary drinks.
10. Continue marking down where the laser dot ends up on the paper with different sugary drinks.
11. By shining a laser through the hollow prism onto the piece of paper we should observe the laser dot being refracted to different points on the paper when tested with different drinks with different sugar concentrations. Measure the distance X with a ruler to determine the distance the laser is refracted away from the control point.

4. Risk Assessment and Management

Risk	Assessment	Management
If dropped, the hollow prism might shatter and the students might get cut from the glass shards.	Medium	Students need to be careful and responsible when carrying out the experiment and if prism breaks, inform the teacher immediately.
As there are many students working in the lab, the laser beam may accidentally shine into a student’s eye.	Medium	Conduct the experiment in the corner of the lab or find a space in the lab where students do not walk past our experiment.
While making the prism, a heating tool is used. students operating the equipment if not careful may burn and injure themselves	High	Use safety equipment like gloves to prevent being burned. keep your bare hands away from the heating wire
As we are using drinks, the drink may spill and if not careful, someone may slip and fall	Medium	Keep a rag with us to clean up the mess if there is a spill

5. Data Analysis

Plot a histogram of the amount of sugar (/100g) against the 6 different brands of sugary drinks used (A&W Rootbeer, Classic Coca Cola, Jus Plus, Sprite, Teazzle and Schweppes). Using the data collected, determine the difference between the different carbonated sugary drinks.