Name:

Bubble Gum Physics Lab

Purpose: To introduce students to physics (measuring motion) and speed
Hypothesis: Who in your lab group can chomp gum the fastest?
Safety: Don’t choke, don’t bite your tongue, and don’t drool!

**READ ALL DIRECTIONS FOR EACH PART BEFORE STARTING!!**

Part 1: Chomper Challenge

 Get a piece of bubble gum
 Use a stopwatch to time 30 second intervals
 Count the number of chomps you can do in 30 seconds and record it in Table 1
 Repeat this 5 times

Data Table 1-
Trial Chomps Time Speed
1 30s Round speeds
to the nearest
2 30s hundredth!

3 30s

4 30s

5 30s

Speed = # of chomps
time

1. What is your average speed? (Hint: add all five speeds together and divide by 5)
Round answers to the hundredth.
My average speed was ________ chomps/second

2. Based on your average chomping speed, how many chomps could you do in five minutes, one
hour, or one day? Hint: How many seconds are in a minutes? So how many are in 5 minutes? etc. You can
always “Google” this information. Show your work!

5 min = _______ chomps 1 hour = _______ chomps 1 day = _______ chomps

Part 2: Speedy Chompers

 Use a stopwatch to time 60 seconds (1 minute)
  Have a partner count the number of chomps you can do, record the number at 20 seconds, 40 seconds &
60 seconds (This is for speed, so chew fast!)
 Record the number of chomps data in table 2

Data Table 2-
Chomps Time Speed
Round speeds
to the nearest
20s hundredth!

40s

60s

1. Calculate your chomping speed at each point (20 sec, 40 sec, and 60 sec) using the data from
your experiment. Show your work! Round all answers to the nearest hundredth!

Speed at T = 20 sec = _______ chomps ÷ 20 sec = _________ chomps/sec

Speed at T = 40 sec = _______ chomps ÷ 40 sec = _________ chomps/sec

Speed at T = 60 sec = _______ chomps ÷ 60 sec = _________ chomps/sec

 Using the numbers from table 2 make two graphs below

Chomps Speed

:00 :20 :40 :60 :00 :20 :40 :60

Time (sec) Time (sec)

Now finish calculating the speed for data tables, compare chomp speed with your lab group members to see
who was the fastest and answer the following questions:

1. Look at your average speed from part 1 and part 2, are they the same, did you maintain a constant rate?
Why or why not?
2. Write a paragraph to summarize the results of your experiment.

3. Are your results from this lab reliable and accurate? Why do you think this?

4. What other experiments could we do with bubble gum?

Adapted from T. Trimpe, 2001