Hooked on Science: How much sugar is in a can of soda?

It that time of the year when we all make a New Year's resolution. Is your resolution to cut back on soda? If so, here's an experiment that might encourage you to keep that resolution.

Materials

* Can of soda

* Calculator

Instructions

STEP 1: Discover how many grams of sugar there is in your favorite soda by looking at the nutrition facts on the side of the can.

STEP 2: One teaspoon of sugar is equal to about 4.2 grams. Therefore, divide the grams of sugar in your soda by 4.2 grams to get the number of teaspoons. For example, if the can contains 28 grams of sugar, divide 28 by 4.2. That would equal 6.7 teaspoons of sugar.

Explanation

If you drink two 12-ounce sodas every day for one month, you will consume about 5.6 gallons of soda, gulp down about 5 pounds of sugar and take in more than 8,000 calories. Discover more hands-on experiments by going to www.hookedonscience.org.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website "Hooked On Science" at hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.