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Krampf #475 Burning Calories
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KRA-@aol.com
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Jan 24, 2007 04:11 PST
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Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week
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This Week's Experiment - #475 Burning Calories
Greetings from Jensen Beach, Florida. I am still doing science shows in the
area, and having a blast, with shows, nature photography, walks on the beach,
and visiting with friends.
This week's experiment comes from a teacher inservice on energy that I
presented at Florida Power and Light's Energy Encounter last week. We were talking
about different ways that we measure energy, and as we talked about the
energy stored in our food, they got quite a surprise. To see what startled them,
you will need:
1 M&M candy, or a small candy that tells you how many calories it contains
In our food conscious world, we hear a lot about calories, but most people
don't really know what a calorie is. Calories are a measure of energy. One
calorie is the heat energy that it takes to raise the temperature of one gram
of water by one degree Celsius.
There is some confusion, since in the food industry; the word Calorie
actually refers to a kilocalorie, which is one thousand actual calories. The
nutritional Calorie is spelled with a capital "C", while the actual calorie has a
lower case "c". One nutritional Calorie has enough energy to raise the
temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. That means that a piece
of candy that contains 200 nutritional Calories has enough chemical energy
stored in it to raise the temperature of 200 kilograms (200 liters) of water by
one degree.
When you eat food, your body has two choices. It can use the Calories, or
it can store them for later. To maintain a steady body weight, we need to use
as many Calories as we consume. Depending on what you eat, and how much you
exercise that can be a challenge. To give you an idea of what it takes to
use up the Calories, lets try an example.
Pick up one M&M candy. Look at it carefully. Not very big, is it? And
it only contains 4.3 nutritional Calories. Not much at all, right? Now, eat
the candy. So far, this is a really fun experiment.
Now, lets burn up the Calories from that tiny piece of candy. To do that,
you have walk at a brisk pace for 100 yards, the length of a football field.
No, just sitting there thinking about walking will not have the same result.
Get up and actually walk. After walking that distance, you will have burned
about the same amount of energy that was in the candy.
Now, think about eating an entire bag of M&Ms. For each 18 pieces of candy
that you eat, you would have to walk just over a mile, so even a small bag of
candy would mean several miles of walking.
Look at some other foods, to see how far you would have to walk. You will
be amazed at how much energy you consume. But wait a minute! If you look at
guides to nutrition, most recommend a diet of about 10 Calories for each
pound of your weight each day. If you weigh 150 pounds, then a healthy diet
should include about 1500 Calories. To walk that off, you would have to walk
almost 20 miles a day! What is going on?
Well, not all the Calories you eat are used for exercise. Much that energy
goes towards producing heat, to keep your body at a constant 98.6 degrees.
It varies from person to person, but about 800 to 1000 of the calories that the
average person eats will go towards producing the heat that maintains your
body temperature. The rest of the Calories go towards keeping your body
running and letting you do the things that you do every day.
If you eat more calories, then you need to exercise more, to keep your body
from storing that energy as fat. That's why I spend so much time hiking with
30 pounds of camera equipment on my back. Besides the fun I have with nature
photography, it also helps me burn off all the ice cream, chocolate sauce,
whipped cream, etc.
Have a wonder filled week!
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From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
PO Box 60982
Jacksonville, FL 32236-0982
904-388-6381
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