Discussion of Results

Our analysis of the kernel’s velocity was not surprising.  We expected velocities to be around 2.5 m/s from our research (Google) and this was in the range of velocities that we calculated (from 1.5 m/s to 4 m/s). Also, our group was not surprised that there was no common velocity between the pops because each kernel and each pop were unique.  We believe that the differences in velocities depended on the size of the kernel.  

This led us to look at what determined the size of the pop.  Because there are so many variables that could alter the pop size, we chose to look at the size and the shape of the kernel.  At first, we were only concerned about the size of the kernel, whether it was big or small.  This may seem like the viewer’s discretion of the kernel, but we determined after examining many kernels that some were obviously larger in shape, usually by 5 mm.  These were classified as “big” kernels.  After watching a couple pops, we included the shape of the kernel in determining the size of the pop.  Including the shape was a good idea because that gave us better results.  We defined round kernels as kernels with a spherical shape, and flat kernels as kernels that had a thinner girth and were more oblong in shape.  The rounder kernels had significantly bigger pops (eight round kernels had big pops while only two flat kernels had big pops) than the flat kernels.  The data of the relationship between the size of the kernel and the size of the pop did not tell us as much as we wanted.  The majority of the bigger kernels had bigger pops; however, it was very close.  There were seven big kernels that had big pops and six small kernels that had big pops. Likewise, the data for small pops was close.  There were five small kernels with small pops and four big kernels with small pops.  This confirms what we thought originally: big kernels have larger pops than smaller kernels; however, now it seems that the pops are more random.  If we were to have to guess the size of the pop, I think we would rather look at the shape of the kernel than the size of the kernel.

We believe that the round kernels had bigger pops because they hold more popcorn.  For the same size kernel, there should be more fluff to a round one than a flat one because there is more volume.  Also, the majority of bigger kernels have bigger pops because they have more fluff in them.  Basically, the pop is determined by the volume of the kernel, but we did not have a large enough sample size to conclude this statistically.