THE STUDY OF CHOCOLATE MELTING
Natalie Timinskas
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determined how fast chocolate melts. Chocolate is
made from seeds of cacao trees. Different types of chocolate (milk, dark and white
chocolate) with boiling water and seeing which one melts faster than the other type of
chocolate. The type of chocolate melted the fastest was white chocolate. White
chocolate melts faster than milk or dark chocolate because white chocolate doesn’t
contain food coloring, like some other chocolates do.
INTRODUCTION
Chocolate is made from seed of cacao trees. The process of making the seeds into
liquid process is not that
complicated. The first step is
to harvesters cut mature pods
from trees and then the beans
and pulp. The coca beans
were then weighed. The next
step is heating the coca
beans in a large rotating oven,
that last half an (hr) to 2 (hr).
Figure 1- this is a diagram of the cocoa beans becoming into coca beans.
Now the coca beans are
cracked and winnowed. The
coca nibs (that are in the coca
beans) are crushed and
grounded into thick paste.
Patrick Mulqueen
performed an experiment on how fast chocolate melts. He used milk chocolate and dark
chocolate for one of his experiments. His results were that dark chocolate melted the
fastest at 4 (min). Another experiment that he did was melting Hershey’s, Baby Ruth,
Crunch, and Butter Fingers and was going to see which type of candy melted the
fastest. The results for this experiment was that Hershey’s melted the fasted at 2 (min)
and 20 (sec). Over all Patrick did 5 experiments on his topic.
The difference between the experiments performed in this experiment compared to his
experiment is because in this experiment used water for melting my chocolate in and
Patrick used milk for his chocolate to melt in. He also used candies and in this
experiment there was no candies, only different types of chocolate were used.
When ice melts it first has to absorb thermal energy and its temperature will then rise. At
some point the temperature will stop rising and the ice changes to liquid water. Malting
is the change from the solid state to the liquid state. The temperature at which a
substance changes from a solid to a liquid is called a melting point. The melting point of
the water is 0 degrees Celsius.
Temperature is measured with, a thermometer, which may be calibrated to a variety of
temperature scales. Temperature is a physical property of matter. The quantitatively
expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects that have low temperature are
cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot.
When a heat path between them is open, heat spontaneously flows from bodies of a
higher temperature to bodies of lower temperature. The flow rate increases with the
temperature difference, while no heat will be exchanged between bodies of the same
temperature. It is called Thermal equilibrium.
Liquids, like milk and water, have no fixed shape. They take on a shape of the container
that holds them. Liquid is made of atoms and molecules. Liquids are held with differing
strengths. Liquids change from one state to another occur when the atomic or molecular
arrangement changes. This usually happens when there is a change of temperature.
The attraction between molecules in a liquid is weak. They can move as fast as a
person can move through a crowd. When that happens it leaves empty spaces for other
molecules can move in. this movement of molecules enables the liquid to flow easily.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used for this experiment is a glass beakers, thermometer, Hershey’s milk
chocolate, Hershey’s dark chocolate, white chocolate chips, hot plates, metal pot, water,
tin foil, plastic, milk, lemonade, orange juice, sponges, timer, and volunteers.
In this experiment chocolate was melted in different types of temperatures (in water) on
a hot plate. The Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in 60 degrees Celsius was the control
for this experiment. For this experiment the Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted in 60
degrees Celsius 3 times. Then the temperature went up to 70 (deg C) and the
Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted 3 times before moving on to the highest
temperature the Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted in. The highest and the last
temperature that the Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted in are 80 (deg C). The
Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in 80 (deg C) 3 times before the graph was made.
In this experiment different types chocolate was melted in water on a hot plate. The
Hershey’s milk chocolate, Hershey’s dark chocolate and white chocolate chips were all
melted in 60 (deg C). The first type of chocolate that got melted was milk chocolate.
Then the dark chocolate got melted and last went the white chocolate. The white
chocolate was chocolate chips so in this experiment the white chocolate chips were
weighed to see how many white chocolate chips equaled the amount of one milk
chocolate bar. After that the graph for this experiment was made.
In this experiment Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted in different types of liquids. The
different types of liquids were milk, water, lemonade, and orange juice. The Hershey’s
milk chocolate was melted in 60 (deg C). First went the milk chocolate in with the milk
three times. Next went the milk chocolate in the lemonade three times again. Last went
the milk chocolate with the orange juice. After the chocolate was melted in different
types of liquids the graph was made for the experiment.
In this experiment Hershey’s milk chocolate was broken up into pieces and melted. The
chocolate was broken into 0 pieces, 2 pieces, and 4 pieces. The control for this
experiment was 0 pieces. First 0 pieces was put in the beaker and melted. Then the 2
pieces and last the 4 pieces. That was tested 3 times. After the chocolate melted in
different pieces the graph was made.
In this experiment different types chocolate were tested to see if they affect the waters
temperature. The different types of chocolates that were melted were milk, dark, and
white chocolate. The milk chocolate was put in and tested. Then the dark was tested
and lastly the white chocolate was tested. The graph was made after the results were
tested 3 times.
In this experiment different types of chocolate were tested to see which chocolate melts
on the tongue the fastest. The different types of chocolates were milk, dark, and white
chocolate. In this experiment 5 people were melting chocolate on their tongue. It was
tested 3 times. Then the graph was made.
In this experiment Hershey’s milk chocolate was melted with foil, plastic, or nothing on
the top of the beaker. This experiment was done on a hotplate in water in a beaker.
Nothing on the top went first then the foil, then the plastic. It was tested 3 times each.
The graph was made when all of the testing for this experiment has been done.
Time the milk chocolate took to melt
(sec)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
60
65
70
75
80
Temperature (*C)
Figure 2- This is a graph of chocolate melted in various types of temperatures.
Hershey’s milk chocolate melting in 80 (deg C) melted the most out of the 3
temperatures, 60, 70, and 80 (deg C). The reason why Hershey’s milk chocolate melted
in the highest temperature, 80 (deg C), is because Hershey’s milk chocolate can only
melt on or in hot things, but Hershey’s milk chocolate can melt really fast in or on very
hot things. So that’s why Hershey’s milk chocolate melts so fast.
how fast chocolate melted(sec)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
milk chocolate
dark chocolate
white chocolate
type of chocolate
Figure 3- This is a graph about different types of chocolates melting.
White chocolate melted the fastest out of the three different types of chocolate at 60
(deg C). White chocolate melted the fastest because milk chocolate has food coloring in
it, but white chocolate does not. Dark chocolate melted the slowest because it is rich
and sweeter than other types of chocolate.
How fast the milk chocolate
melted(sec)
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
water
milk
lemonade
orange juice
Type of liquid
Figure 4- This is a graph that is about how various types of liquids effect chocolate melting.
In this experiment Hershey’s milk chocolate melts faster than water, lemonade, and
orange juice. The slowest that the Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in was in orange
juice. Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in water at 75 (s). Hershey’s milk chocolate
how fast the milk chocolate melted(sec)
melted in milk at 30 (s). Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in lemonade at 120 (s).
Hershey’s milk chocolate melted in orange juice 150 (s).
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
number of pieces of chocolate broken into
Figure 5- This is a graph that is about chocolate melting in different pieces of chocolate.
Hershey’s milk chocolate melted the fastest when in was broken up into 4 pieces at 25
(s). The slowest the Hershey’s milk chocolate melted was when it was a whole piece at
75 (s). The Hershey’s milk chocolate melted at 54 (s) when it was broken up into 2
pieces. The reason why the chocolate melted the fastest in 4 pieces is because when
something is broken up each piece gets smaller, so when the chocolate was broken up
into 4 pieces each piece was melting fas
how much the different kinds of
chocolate changed the
temperature(sec)
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
milk chocolate
dark chocolate
white chocolate
type of chocolate
Figure 6- This is a graph about different types of chocolate effecting water.
How fast it melted on the tongue(sec)
In this experiment milk chocolate changed the waters temperature the most at7 (degC).
White chocolate changed the waters temperature the least at 2 (degC). Dark chocolate
changed the waters temperature at 4 (degC).
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
milk
dark
white
Type of Chocolate
Figure 7- This is a graph about various of chocolate melting in peoples tongues.
In this experiment dark chocolate melted the fastest on someone’s tongue. White
chocolate melted the slowest in peoples tongue than milk or dark chocolate. At 110 (s)
was white chocolate. At 90 (s) was milk chocolate. At 73 (s) was dark chocolate.
how fast the milk chocolate melted(sec)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
nothing
plastic
foil
type of covering
Figure 8- This is a graph about chocolate melting under different coverings.
In this experiment Hershey’s milk chocolate melted the fastest with a plastic covering on
the beaker. Hershey’s milk chocolate melted the slowest with foil covering on the
beaker. At 75 (s) was nothing on the beaker. At 65 (s) was plastic covering on the
beaker. At 90 (s) was foil covering on the beaker.
CONCLUSION
It was determined that white chocolate chips melt faster than milk or dark chocolate and
should break chocolate in four pieces if it was wanted it to melt faster. It was also
determined that milk chocolate melts faster in milk water and the higher the temperature
is the faster milk chocolate. This information is important because whenever the melting
is in process any type of chocolate will know which way to melt them, in the mouth or in
a beaker filled with water on a hot plate. The hypothesis for the second experiment was
wrong; the hypothesis was that milk chocolate would melt faster than white or dark
chocolate. The hypothesis for experiment 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 was that milk chocolate
melted in a higher temperature and milk chocolate melted faster in pieces than in a
whole, all my hypothesis for 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were correct. A future experiment that
could be done is soaking chocolate in soap, milk, lemonade, and orange juice.
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Mulqueen, Patrick. “The Study Of The Melting Of Various Chocolates”. 10 Feburary
2013. Print.
The Hershey’s Company. https://www.thehersheycompany.com/about-hershey/ourstory/making-our-chocolate.aspx. [Accessed 31 Feb 2013].
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