Name: Zyarielle Harrison

Title: Quantitative Food Test for Glucose

Aim: To find the concentration of the unknown samples A, B and C.

Introduction: Glucose is a monosaccharaide (simple sugar) with a chemical formula of C 6H12O6

whose main function is to provide, transport and store energy. Glucose contains a free aldehyde group
and is therefore, a reducing sugar. Due to this free aldehyde group, glucose is very reactive which is
beneficial to animals, who have a constant energy demand.
Glucose’s free aldehyde group is also what allows glucose to react with the sulfuric acid
(H2SO4) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4) used in the experiment. H2SO4 and KMnO4 are both
oxidizing agents, and glucose’s aldehyde group gives glucose reducing properties which allows a
reduction-oxidation reaction to occur between glucose and the reagents. In this reaction, the MnO 4-
ions contained in potassium permanganate were reduced to Mn 2+ ions, meaning that the solution
would’ve turned from purple to colourless.
When carrying out the experiment, the reactants were stirred and swirled. This agitation
affected the rate of reaction by increasing the probability of particles colliding with each other in
exactly the right way. If the likelihood of particles colliding correctly is increased, then the reaction is
more likely to proceed faster. This is in accordance with the collision theory which states that particles
must collide with each other using sufficient energy and the proper orientation for a reaction between
them to occur.
In the experiment performed, it is expected that as the concentration of glucose increases, the
rate of reaction would increase as well. The concentrations of unknown samples A, B, & C can then
be discovered by comparing the rates of their respective reactions to the rates of reactions of the
known concentrations of glucose.

Apparatus and Materials: 7 100 ml beakers

2 stirring rods
1 stopwatch
2 10 ml measuring cylinders
2 5 ml syringes
0.02M KMnO4
1M H2SO4
20 ml each pf 2%, 4%, 6%,8%, 10% and 12% glucose solutions
20 ml of distilled water
20 ml each of unknown concentrations of glucose A, B and C.
Procedure:
1) Initially, 10 ml of 2% glucose solution was measured out using a measuring cylinder.
2) The solution was then transferred to a 100 ml test tube and 5 ml of 1M sulphuric acid
followed by 2 ml of 0.02M KMnO4.
3) The stopwatch was started immediately.
4) The mixture was stirred vigorously using a glass rod until the contents of the beaker turned
colourless, at which point the stopwatch was stopped. (A white background was used to easily
detect colour change.)
5) The time taken for the mixture to turn colourless was recorded. If at the five-minute mark, the
mixture still hadn’t seen any change, the stopwatch was stopped, and the trial was considered
inconclusive.
6) Steps 1-5 were repeated for the glucose concentrations 4%, 6%, 8% and 12%, Distilled water,
and unknown solutions A, B and C.

Results: TABLE SHOWING GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION (%) AND RATE OF REACTION

Glucose Concentration Time (s) Rate (1/T)

(%) (s-1)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Average
0 - - - -

2 852.0 860.0 856.0 0.0012

4 310.0 305.0 307.5 0.0033

6 134.0 132.0 133.0 0.0075

8 111.0 114.0 112.5 0.0089

10 105.0 102.0 103.5 0.0097

12 90.0 95.0 92.5 0.0108

A 1681.0 1675.0 1678.0 0.0006

B 414.0 412.0 413.0 0.0024

C 247.0 245.0 246.0 0.0041

Trends: From the experiment, it can be said that as the concentration of glucose increased, the rate of
reaction also increased.
 GRAPH SHOWING RATE OF REACTION AGAINST GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION

0.012

0.01

0.008
Rate of Reaction (1/s)

0.006

0.004

A
0.002

C
B
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Glucose Concentration (%)

Calculations:
For 2% Glucose Concentration
Rate of Reaction: Units: s-1
1
Formula:
T
For 2% Glucose Concentration
Where T is 856 s
1
Rate of Reaction =
856
= 0.0012 s-1
Average Time (s)
Trial 1+ Trial 2
Formula:
2
Where Trial 1 is 852
And Trial 2 is 860
852+ 860
Average Time =
2
= 856 s
Discussion: From the graph it can be determined that the glucose concentrations of unknown
solutions A, B and C were 5.2%, 3.3% and 4.4% respectively. Due to time constraints, if any mixture
didn’t show a visible colour change within five minutes of stirring, the timer was stopped, and the
lack of physical change was noted. This only had to be done during the trials using 0% glucose
solution. It was unlikely that any reaction between the 0% glucose and the KMnO 4 was ever going to
occur as distilled water is deionized and therefore cannot participate in a redox reaction. The values
for 0% glucose solution were not included in the table because no visible colour change was observed
after five minutes of agitation.

Precautions: Each trial took place over, or in front of a white background to allow the expected
colour change from purple to colourless to be seen more easily.
The countdown method was used to start the stopwatch to limit error introduced by an individual’s
reaction time. Both students counted backward from three and on one, one student added the reagents
to the beaker while the other started the stopwatch.

Sources of Error: Even though the countdown method was used the response time of students is
variable, and thus, human error may have been introduced discrepancies with the time values obtained
in the experiment.
Additionally, the sulphuric acid and the potassium sulphate were not added at the same time. The
reagent that was added first would have had more contact time than the reagent added after it.

Limitations: The reagents were hand stirred and therefore the rate of agitation was not constant.
Additionally, the experiment was carried out in an air-conditioned environment, and because
temperature alters the rate of the reaction, the rates obtained in the experiment could have been
skewed due to this.

Conclusion: After obtaining the rates of reaction for 6 known concentrations of glucose by reacting
them each with acidified potassium permanganate, the glucose concentrations of unknown solutions
A, B and C were found to be 5.2%, 3.3% and 4.4% respectively.