Ice! Ice! Savings! The Effect of Ice Shape on Restaurant Profitability

Overview

This experiment focused on how ice shape may reduce the amount of liquid that could be placed in a cup and increase the amount of profitability gained from soft drink sales. The hypothesis stated that if ice shavings were placed in the cup, then the amount of drink that could be placed in the cup would be decreased and profitability would be increased. Four different ice shapes were tested. A cup was marked with a fill line for ice and water. The various types of ice were placed in the cup to the ice fill line, and water was measured in a graduated cylinder to fill the cup with water to the respective fill line. The amount of water remaining in the graduated cylinder was subtracted from the original water amount in the cylinder. Thirty testes were performed with each type of ice, and the average amount of liquid poured into the cup was calculated. The four shapes of ice tested were ice nuggets, classic ice cubes, contour ice cubes, and ice shavings. Thirty tests were also performed with just water in the cup as the control group. The results showed the hypothesis to be incorrect. The contour cubes allowed for the least amount of liquid to be placed in the cup and would create higher profits for a restaurant. The independent variable in this experiment was the different ice shapes, and the dependent variable was the amount of liquid that could be placed in the cup.

Competition history

• ISEF 2016 Category not listed · Entry MATH004T

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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