[MedBaby]

Ok, i am currently a Chemistry student and we were given a Planning and Design experiment that i have no idea how to approach. it goes like this:
Syllabus topic: Organic Chemistry
Background: In discussing fruits that were suitable for making wine, the following fruits were given:
cherries, oranges and pomeracs. Plan and design an experiment to find out which fruit would make the strongest wine.

Syllabus Topic: Energy and Energetics
Background: Charles, on reaching to what he learnt on the topic of energetics, hypothesized that the energy value of an alcohol depends on the number of carbon atoms it contains. Design an experiment to test the validity of Charles' hypothesis...
please help...idk where to begin

[Arkcon]

OK, lets try to take these experiments one at a time.  What  do you know (or can find out) about wine making, and how we define the strength of wine.  If you've just done energetics, can you find any formulas for determining energy rating?  And what do you know of alcohols, and the number of carbons.

[MedBaby]

ok.....well i know that the formation of alcohol/ethanol involves fermentation of sugars or yeast, and i know that alcohols contain two carbon atoms as well as hydroxide

[billnotgatez]

fermentation of sugars or yeast

Should this have read?

fermentation of sugars using yeast

[fledarmus]

ok.....i know that alcohols contain two carbon atoms as well as hydroxide

Different alcohols contain different numbers of carbon atoms. Look up the structures for methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, and any other alcohols you have to work with.

[MedBaby]

Well we really don't need to go into depth of the different types of alcohols, but i need to set up an experiment to test the strengths of the alcohol/ethanol found in the fruits listed

[MedBaby]

You know what i mean right...like create a method and list all of the apparatus and materials we need. So far I understand that both fermentation and fractional distillation needs to occur.

[billnotgatez]

Do you have to do a proper experimental design?

http://sciencefairproject.virtualave.net/scientific_method.htm

Do you have to do any of these steps?

Research Question:
Hypothesis:
Experimental Design:
    * Variables:
    * Control:
    * Observation:
    * Collect Data:
    * Journal:
    * Data:
    * Charts & Graphs:
Materials:
Procedure:
Results:
Conclusion:
Application:
Resources:

[MedBaby]

Do you have to do a proper experimental design?

http://sciencefairproject.virtualave.net/scientific_method.htm

Do you have to do any of these steps?

Research Question:
Hypothesis:
Experimental Design:
    * Variables:
    * Control:
    * Observation:
    * Collect Data:
    * Journal:
    * Data:
    * Charts & Graphs:
Materials:
Procedure:
Results:
Conclusion:
Application:
Resources:

yes, that exactly, and I'm clueless as to how i should start.

[billnotgatez]

That web site I posted should be able to give you guidance.

From your post

Well we really don't need to go into depth of the different types of alcohols, but i need to set up an experiment to test the strengths of the alcohol/ethanol found in the fruits listed

From the web site

Hypothesis: The hypothesis is an "educated guess," formed as a statement, that you propose to be the answer to the research question. An educated guess is based on some prior knowledge.

Based on your statement, I do not see how you are going to make a good hypothesis without understanding fermentation.

[Jasim]

Could we consider this from a more simple view-point? Do we know how much sugar is contained in each fruit type? Do we have a relationship relating sugar content to ethanol formation?

I guess that's what the experiment in a sense would be directed at finding out. You could just ferment each fruit and measure how much ethanol you get.

[fledarmus]

Well we really don't need to go into depth of the different types of alcohols, but i need to set up an experiment to test the strengths of the alcohol/ethanol found in the fruits listed

Ah, so you are only concerned with the first syllabus topic, not the second...

Billnotgatez gave you an excellent list of things to consider, and a good order to consider them in. How far have you gotten down that list? Have you, for example, formed a hypothesis that you can test? Have you begun to look at what variables you will need to measure, what controls you would need to run, what observations you would need to collect...?

[Quantumdotty]

The energy experiment could be undertaken with a simple combustion experiment using an alcohol burning lamp. Simply put the same amount of moles of each alcohol in each lamp and use them to heat a known quantity of water. You know the specific heat capacity of water and thus the enthalpy of combustion can be calculated. Remember to weight the lamp before and after so you know how much fuel you used. Any shielding to improve the heat transfer to the water would also improve the experiment

[MedBaby]

HYPOTHESIS: The fruit with the highest sugar content would produce the most alcohol.
TITLE: Comparing the strength of the alcohol contained in the following fruits: cherries, oranges and pomeracs.
AIM: To compare the strength of the alcohol contained in cherries, oranges and pomeracs.

[MedBaby]

Methanol: 1 carbon
Ethanol: 2 carbons
Propanol: 3 carbons
Butanol: 4 carbons
Alcohols are soluble in water an less volatile than alkanes....I know all these things, but I can't develop a procedure for them. i need to know exactly how to use each process in the lab