Physical Science Homework

Question

A candy scientist was trying to create a lollipop dye that would cause a person's mouth to turn blue for the longest period of time. She created three dyes and made 3-centimeter lollipops with them. She put 2 grams of dye A into a lollipop, 4 grams of dye B into a lollipop, and 6 grams of dye C into the last lollipop. The scientist had three subjects to suck on the lollipops without chewing. After the people sucked the entire lollipop, the scientist recorded how long their mouths stayed blue. Can the results of this experiment be trusted? Explain your reasoning

Answer 1

The results of this experiment may not be entirely trustworthy for a few reasons.

Firstly, the sample size is very small, with only three subjects. Larger sample sizes are generally preferred in scientific experiments to ensure that the results are representative of a larger population.

Secondly, the experiment does not control for any other factors that may affect the duration of the blue dye in the mouth. For example, the subjects' oral hygiene, diet, and overall health could also affect how long the dye stays in the mouth.

Thirdly, the experiment only tests the effect of the amount of dye on the duration of the blue color in the mouth, but it does not take into account the potential of the different dyes to dissolve or react differently in saliva and with other substances in the mouth.

Lastly, the experiment doesn't have any control group, which means there is no way to tell if the results observed are due to the dye or some other factors.

Overall, while the experiment may provide some information on how much dye is needed to produce a blue color in the mouth, it is not a robust or well-controlled study, and the results should be interpreted with caution.