M&M, Skittle Half Life Model Lab

Purpose:The purpose of this laboratory exercise is to

design a model using M&M Candies and a cup that will help illustrate the terms half life and radioactive decay as properties of certain elements. The purpose is to also compare model data to real half life data of actual elements.

Materials: 1. M&M Candies2. Skittle Candies3. Marshmallow4. Ziploc Baggie5. Graph Paper6. Clock/Watch with Second Hand

Safety Precautions:General safety should be observed during this lab. Care should be taken that the

candy not enter ears or nose, only in the mouth and only when done the lab…make sure you are done the lab. If you are allergic to candies or just strangely do not like candy (weird) that you can play in the corner for the duration of the experiment. Nicely please.

Procedures:1. Count your M&M Candies and place them in a baggie.2. Shake the box GENTLY for 10 seconds. 3. Pour them out and count the decayed atoms (the ones that have the lettered

side facing up. THIS WILL BE AN M or A W). 4. Record the number of decayed atoms and enter the number decayed and

undecayed on the data table (Trial 1).5. Replace the M&M’s with letters up with skittles and put them all back in the

bag. Repeat step 3, but now also count the decayed daughter S’s

NOTE!!!since you are replacing the m&m’s with the letters up with skittles, you should have the exact same amount of candies on each trial.

6. Replace the skittles with letter up with marshmallows and replace the M&M’s with letters up with skittles and put them all back in the bag. Marshmallows are stable…so just leave them alone!!

7. Repeat steps 1-6 until all atoms have decayed.8. Construct a graph (undecayed atoms vs. time)

to represent you data for the averages. Use a different colour for M&M’s, Skittles and Marshmallows.

9. What are the half lifes for M&M’s and Skittles?

Observations:Data table and graph will go in this section.

Conclusions:As you write your conclusions, remember to never write personal words like I,

me, our, us, etc. Instead use terms like: one should, one would find, it can be shown that, etc. Its funnier! Address the definition of half life and radioactive decay. How closely does the graph of this model compare to a real element such as Uranium? Approximately what percentage of the whole amount is left after each trial? How does your results compare to others. Really don’t do this last bit. I’m not going to read it. Think about it though. You can ask questions that I may or may not answer, depending on the level of thought on you’re and my part involved. Really, just hand in your graph, tables and questions.

Initial M & M’s Skittles MarshmallowsFirst dump(1 minute)Second dump(2 minutes)Third dump(you get it by now)Fourth dump(right??)Fifth dump

Sixth dump

Seventh dump

Eighth dump

Ninth dump

Tenth dump

Eleventeenth dumpTwelvish dumpThurtdteenth dumpFourteenth dumpMore dumps?

This is like the radioactive decay series of a parent material decaying into a daughter material and the daughter material decaying into a more stable final material.