Drugs and disease 12.1 Drugs Worksheet 12.1.

2
Lesson 1



How does caffeine affect reaction times?
Objective
To measure reaction time before and drinking caffeine.
You will need
Access to a caffeine drink, e.g. cola
Access to an equivalent drink with no caffeine, e.g. caffeine-free cola
Access to drinking water
Disposable cups
Safety
Do not drink more than 100 cm3 of the drink.
Prediction
Caffeine is a stimulant.
It speeds up your reactions.
Use the axes to sketch the effect you expect it to have on your reaction time.
Plan
• To measure a reaction time, hold a long ruler above your partner’s
outstretched hand.
• Let it drop suddenly when they are not expecting it. The shorter the distance
between their top finger and the bottom of the ruler, the shorter their reaction
time.
• The graph below can be used to convert centimetres to seconds.
• Plan how to carry out a fair and reliable test.

Conclusions
Compare your results with your predictions. Did caffeine have the effect you
expected?

be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute

© Oxford University Press 2013: this may 1