Introduction
What does your breakfast cereal with iron have in common with Earth's crust? They both have some of the same materials in them. It may seem odd to compare a bowl of cornflakes into a pile of dirt. But science might help us find one of the most common elements on Earth on your cereal: iron.
Even though iron only constitutes less than 5% of the mass on Earth, it's found in a great deal of places: stones, cereal--and in your blood! It's also the most frequently used metal on the planet; it constitutes a lot of steel, which will be a mixture of iron and other ingredients.
Background
In case you've ever seen rocks or dirt which have a reddish or orange hue to them, they most likely contain iron; iron tends to rust when it is exposed to oxygen, resulting in that rusty red color on older metallic objects--or even stones! Iron also plays an important part in our bodies. It is found in a part of our blood called hemoglobin, which helps our blood vessels to carry oxygen molecules from our lungs to the rest of our bodies.
And it's so critical for our bodies to have sufficient iron which some food makers set a dash of it into other foods products--such as fortified breakfast cereal. (Obviously it wouldn't be healthy to consume iron on its own, so stick with getting your everyday dose via food and vitamins.)
Like many alloys, iron is magnetic, so if you have a strong enough magnet, you'll be able to pick it up. Are you going to be able to pick up your box of breakfast cereal only by magnetic force alone? No, because it doesn't contain enough iron for your magnetism to overpower gravity pulling the burden of all that cereal down. But we are going to find a way to eliminate --or"extract"--the iron with that cereal and select it up using a magnet.
Materials
• Breakfast cereal which contains iron, for example fortified cornflakes (check the label to find out how much iron every serving contains--the more the better!)
Preparation
• Pour out one serving of iron-fortified dry cereal into the bowl (or the mortar if you have one).
• Attempt passing the magnet over the flakes. Are they pulled by the magnet? Why not?
Process
Keep crushing it until it becomes a fine powder (the finer you may get it, the easier it's going to be to separate out the iron particles).
• Gently pour the powder onto the white piece of paper at a thin coating.
• Run the magnet tightly over the top of the cereal powder. Is your magnet picking up any black particles? Those are bits of iron! (If you aren't collecting any, ensure that your powder is good enough and try running the magnet through itotherwise, you may need a stronger magnet)
• How much iron did you get out of the cereal?
• if you would like to attempt and get more iron, then carefully pour the cereal into the resealable plastic bag.
• Gently insert the magnet to the bag (in case your magnet includes a handle, carefully transfer it around without spilling the liquid; in case your magnet doesn't have a handle, you can discard it into the bag and reseal it).
• Examine the magnet's surface--were you able to amass more iron?
• Extra: attempt this activity with various types of cereals and determine whether you collect more or less iron.
Observations and outcomes
What happened when you ran the magnet over the entire cereal flakes? What happened when you passed the magnet across the crushed cereal powder? How much iron were you able to extract out of your cereal? Were you able to get more by dissolving the cereal powder ? Check the nutrition facts label to see how much iron each serving actually contains (bear in mind this tabletop project might not be able to acquire all of those iron from this cereal).
As it's in Earth's rocks and soil, the iron in your breakfast cereal is attached to another substances around it. However, while you crush the cereal down, it helps to free up the iron particles, which means they can be picked up by the magnet (dissolving the other areas of the cereal frees up the iron even more).
Read more about foods with iron articles here... Thanks
What does your breakfast cereal with iron have in common with Earth's crust? They both have some of the same materials in them. It may seem odd to compare a bowl of cornflakes into a pile of dirt. But science might help us find one of the most common elements on Earth on your cereal: iron.
Even though iron only constitutes less than 5% of the mass on Earth, it's found in a great deal of places: stones, cereal--and in your blood! It's also the most frequently used metal on the planet; it constitutes a lot of steel, which will be a mixture of iron and other ingredients.
Background
In case you've ever seen rocks or dirt which have a reddish or orange hue to them, they most likely contain iron; iron tends to rust when it is exposed to oxygen, resulting in that rusty red color on older metallic objects--or even stones! Iron also plays an important part in our bodies. It is found in a part of our blood called hemoglobin, which helps our blood vessels to carry oxygen molecules from our lungs to the rest of our bodies.
And it's so critical for our bodies to have sufficient iron which some food makers set a dash of it into other foods products--such as fortified breakfast cereal. (Obviously it wouldn't be healthy to consume iron on its own, so stick with getting your everyday dose via food and vitamins.)
Like many alloys, iron is magnetic, so if you have a strong enough magnet, you'll be able to pick it up. Are you going to be able to pick up your box of breakfast cereal only by magnetic force alone? No, because it doesn't contain enough iron for your magnetism to overpower gravity pulling the burden of all that cereal down. But we are going to find a way to eliminate --or"extract"--the iron with that cereal and select it up using a magnet.
Materials
• Breakfast cereal which contains iron, for example fortified cornflakes (check the label to find out how much iron every serving contains--the more the better!)
Preparation
• Pour out one serving of iron-fortified dry cereal into the bowl (or the mortar if you have one).
• Attempt passing the magnet over the flakes. Are they pulled by the magnet? Why not?
Process
Keep crushing it until it becomes a fine powder (the finer you may get it, the easier it's going to be to separate out the iron particles).
• Gently pour the powder onto the white piece of paper at a thin coating.
• Run the magnet tightly over the top of the cereal powder. Is your magnet picking up any black particles? Those are bits of iron! (If you aren't collecting any, ensure that your powder is good enough and try running the magnet through itotherwise, you may need a stronger magnet)
• How much iron did you get out of the cereal?
• if you would like to attempt and get more iron, then carefully pour the cereal into the resealable plastic bag.
• Gently insert the magnet to the bag (in case your magnet includes a handle, carefully transfer it around without spilling the liquid; in case your magnet doesn't have a handle, you can discard it into the bag and reseal it).
• Examine the magnet's surface--were you able to amass more iron?
• Extra: attempt this activity with various types of cereals and determine whether you collect more or less iron.
Observations and outcomes
What happened when you ran the magnet over the entire cereal flakes? What happened when you passed the magnet across the crushed cereal powder? How much iron were you able to extract out of your cereal? Were you able to get more by dissolving the cereal powder ? Check the nutrition facts label to see how much iron each serving actually contains (bear in mind this tabletop project might not be able to acquire all of those iron from this cereal).
As it's in Earth's rocks and soil, the iron in your breakfast cereal is attached to another substances around it. However, while you crush the cereal down, it helps to free up the iron particles, which means they can be picked up by the magnet (dissolving the other areas of the cereal frees up the iron even more).
Read more about foods with iron articles here... Thanks
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