Caffeine: My new science Project

Sometime last week, in science, we got a new project to work on. We had to pick a compound and research it. We could either do a poster, or make a model of our compound. I decided to do the easiest thing possible...the poster. This research activity is worth 50 points. Wow, that is a lot. Soooooo, the compound that I picked was Caffeine. And I felt like sharing this information with you because I wanted to. That's right. So here is what I had to research and the point value for each item.

*Formula for compound (2 pts)
- C8H10N4O2 (the numbers are supposed to be subscripts)

*Symbol, atomic number and mass, and group(family) for each element in your compound as found in the Periodic Table (2 pts)
- Carbon: C, 6, 12.011, 4
- Hydrogen: H, 1, 1.0079, 1
- Nitrogen: N, 7, 14.007, 5
- Oxygen: O, 8, 15.999, 6

*General properties of the compound (state of matter at room temperature, appearance, forms) (2 pts)
- State @ room temp.: Solid, Bitter
- Appearances: Odorless, White
- Forms: Powder or Crystalline

*Several examples of where the compound can be found (3 pts)
- Arabica Plant: Produces coffee beans
- Theobroma Cacao Plant: Produces the beans that are the primary ingredient in chocolate
- Kola Nuts: Many cola products are made from these
- Thea Sinensis Plant: Leaves are used for teas
- Some diet pills
- Some O.T.C pain relievers
- Some medicines

*Man-made (synthetic) or naturally occurring? (2 pts)
- The answer is both. Caffeine is naturally occurring but when the manufacturing process starts and it gets put into beverages and pills and such, then it's man-made.

*Whether it is saturated or unsaturated (2 pts)
- I have not a clue with this one because my teacher didn't help me when I asked and because this has to do with covalent bonding and hydrocarbons. Not the fat content.

*High quality drawing (structural formula) of the compound including bond types (a single, a double, or a triple) (5 pts)
- I haven't done this yet either because I don't know if the picture I found to draw from is correct or not

*Uses for compound that aren't human related (5 pts)
- I searched high and low for this answer and came to a conclusion that caffeine is made for human purposes only

*How is this compound obtained and used by humans (5 pts)
- caffeine is a natural stimulant, therefore it is a drug. Stimulants are a drug category. I learned that in health. Anywho, humans mostly get caffeine from beverages such as teas, coffees, soft drinks, and energy drinks. Caffeine mostly is used to ward of drowsiness and restoring alertness. But low levels of caffeine mixed with other stuff can help with Type 2 Diabetes, Low Blood Pressure, Asthma, and Gallbladder Disease.

*What happens if humans do not get this compound? (5 pts)
- Nothing bad will happen to humans if they don't have caffeine in their systems. But, there are plenty of bad things that can happen to you if you consume too much caffeine. You can get insomnia, headaches, anxiety, etc. based on a combination of dependency and a wide range of unpleasant mental/physical conditions. And one of the things you can get is Caffeine Intoxication and that is not fun for anyone who's experienced it before.

*Soluble or insoluble in water (1 pt)
- Caffeine is soluble in water

*Bring in a product/sample that contains your compound (2 pts)
- I'm bringing in a 20 fl oz Mountain Dew soda in a plastic bottle. There is 90 mg of caffeine in a 20 fl oz container of Mountain Dew

*Poster presentation/quality (10 pts)
- I can nail the presentation

*Use of class time (4 pts)
- We haven't used class time yet. Just home time

Be colorful and creative. Use pictures (from magazines) and drawing where appropriate. This project is due May 6th for periods 1, 3, and 5. It's due May 7th for periods 2, 4, and 6. And presentations start on the 11th and 12th of May. This is a 50 point assignment so do your best work!

Well, this is what my weekend is filled with because I have a four day weekend! Yay.....not. But at least I'm not procrastinating!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well I'm sure you'll get a 50 on this, if not I'm going to kick some science teacher's butt for making you work so hard on your time off.
Spider42 said…
well done on the not procrastinating part of it.. and I have to say that though that was quite informative, thats more information about caffience then I ever thought I would need or even come across in my lifetime..
F.M. said…
@Anonymous: Yeah, I'll know you will!

@The Dude: Ha! It is a lot to digest! I didn't know all of the stuff; I learned alot!
F.M. said…
@Lydia: Thanks for the wonderful comment! I'll check out the website when I can!

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