Hyperlink: Splat! A Scientific Exploration of the Biggest Mess
Hyperlink: Home   Hyperlink: Spaghetti   Hyperlink: Mashed Potatoes   Hyperlink: Applesauce   Hyperlink: The Researcher   Hyperlink: Further Research


Image: Review of Literature

There is nothing more distressing than throwing some type of food at your opponent only to find that it does not create a satisfying mess of them and their clothes. Thus, I have decided to conduct a formal experiment in order to determine which of three foods (spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and applesauce) creates the best splatter. Image: The Researcher Prepared for the Experiment

While I, myself, have never had a food fight, I have seen plenty of movies and TV shows where food fights take place. And there is always a large mess afterwards. This has led me to wonder if this is a realistic expectation for food fights in real life. Also, I wish to live vicariously through simulating a food fight by throwing food at the side of my house. And because I am very logic-centered, and in the middle of conducting formal research in my chemistry class, I thought it would be fun to tie together my research process and my love for making a mess in this project.

The reason behind this website lies in the competition held by the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation. The competition is meant to get more women interested in technology because women are scarce in the field. In order to compete at the beginner level, I am meant to create a website based around the theme of food. Thus, this website was born.

In order to conduct this formal research, I tested the splatter range of spaghetti, mashed potatoes, and applesauce and reported the results. These results can be found on the main pages of the website.

Below is a list of materials required to conduct this research:
  • 1 large tarp
  • 2 painted targets (tempera paint on poster board)
  • 1 ruler
  • 1 can of Campbell's spaghetti
  • 1 large order of KFC mashed potatoes
  • 1 jar of Meijer brand applesauce
  • 2 friends who are willing to help

The image below contains links to fun or interesting facts about the three foods: pasta, potatoes, and apples. These links were imperative during the research process for this experiment. The apples are linked to the target on the left, the potatoes are linked to the target on the right, and the pasta is linked to the spaghetti on the white board at the bottom of the tarp.


Image map to previous research on the three foods
Image: Image Map on Final Product of Experiment Hyperlink: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know about Pasta Hyperlink: Potato Fun Facts Hyperlink: Fun Facts about Apples Image Map



Home  Image: Target Divider  Experiment 1: Spaghetti  Image: Target Divider  Experiment 2: Mashed Potatoes  Image: Target Divider  Experiment 3: Applesauce  Image: Target Divider  The Researcher  Image: Target Divider  Further Research

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Last updated on November 12, 2015.
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