This is to hereby certify that, genuine and

detailed investigation work has been carried out

to investigate about the subject matter and the
related data collection and investigation has
been completed sincerely and satisfactorily by
Devansh Gupta of class XII B, P.M.S Public
School under the humble guidance of
[Link] Dixit (subject teacher) regarding
his project titled “Qualitative and
Comparative analysis of cold drinks”.

Mr. Mathew Paul Dr. Ashutosh Dixit

(Principal) (Subject Teacher)

External Examiner
2
I would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my subject teacher Dr. Ashutosh
Dixit sir as well as our principal sir Mr. Mathew
Paul who gave me the golden opportunity to
work on this wonderful project titled
“Qualitative and Comparative analysis of cold
drinks”, which also helped me knowing so
many new things. Secondly, I would also like to
thank my parents and friends who helped me a
lot in finalizing the project within the limited
time frame.

-- Devansh Gupta
XII Science B

3
Detailed analysis regarding
Qualitative and comparative
perspective of different branded cold
drinks available in the market

4
1. Introduction………………………………………………………7
(A) History
(B) Carbonated drinks
(C) Mass Market and industrialisation
(D) Production
2. Theory………………………………………………………………11
3. Apparatus…………………………………………………………12
4. Experiment
(A) Determination of PH……………………………….13
(B) Test for carbon dioxide……………………………15
(C) Test for glucose………………………………………17
(D) Test for Alcohol………………………………………21

5
5. Conclusion…………………………………………………….…23
6. Applications……………………………………………………..24
7. Precautions………………………………………………………25
8. Bibliography……………………………………………………..26

6
A soft drink is a drink that typically contains carbonated
water (although some lemonades are not carbonated), a
sweetener, and a natural or artificial flavouring. The
sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit
juice, a sugar substitute (in the case of diet drinks), or
some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain
caffeine, colourings, preservatives, and/or other
ingredients. Soft drinks are called "soft" in contrast with
"hard" alcoholic drinks. Small amounts of alcohol may be
present in a soft drink, but the alcohol content must be
less than 0.5% of the total volume if the drink is to be
considered non-alcoholic. Fruit punch, tea (even
kombucha), and other such non-alcoholic drinks are
technically soft drinks by this definition but are not
generally referred to as such. While the term "soft drink"
is commonly used in product labelling and on restaurant
menus, in many countries these drinks are more
commonly referred to by regional names, including
carbonated drink, cool drink, cold drink, fizzy drink, fizzy
juice, lolly water, pop, seltzer, soda, coke, soda pop, tonic,
and mineral. Due to the high sugar content in typical soft
drinks, they may also be called sugary drinks

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The origins of soft drinks lie in the development of fruit-
flavoured drinks. In the medieval Middle East, a variety of
fruit-flavoured soft drinks were widely drunk, such as
sharbat, and were often sweetened with ingredients such
as sugar, syrup and honey. Other common ingredients
included lemon, apple, pomegranate, tamarind, jujube,
sumac, musk, mint and ice. Middle Eastern drinks later
became popular in medieval Europe, where the word
"syrup" was derived from Arabic. In Tudor England, 'water
imperial' was widely drunk; it was a sweetened drink with
lemon flavour and containing cream of tartar.

In the late 18th century, scientists made important

progress in replicating naturally carbonated mineral
waters. In 1767, Englishman Joseph Priestley first
discovered a method of infusing water with carbon
dioxide to make carbonated water when he suspended a
bowl of distilled water above a beer vat at a local brewery
in Leeds, England. His invention of carbonated water is
the major and defining component of most soft drinks.
Priestley found that water treated in this manner had a

8
pleasant taste, and he offered it to his friends as a
refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper
entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air in which he
describes dripping oil of vitriol (or sulfuric acid as it is now
called) onto chalk to produce carbon dioxide gas and
encouraging the gas to dissolve into an agitated bowl of
water.

Soft drinks soon outgrew their origins in the medical

world and became a widely consumed product, available
cheaply for the masses. By the 1840s there were more
than fifty soft drink manufacturers – an increase from
just ten in the previous decade. Carbonated lemonade
was widely available in British refreshment stalls in 1833,
and in 1845 R. White's Lemonade went on sale in the UK.
For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, Schweppes
was designated the official drink supplier and sold over a
million bottles of lemonade, ginger beer, Seltzer water
and soda-water. There was a Schweppes soda water
fountain, situated directly at the entrance to the
exhibition. Mixer drinks became popular in the second
9
half of the century. Tonic water was originally quinine
added to water as a prophylactic against malaria and
was consumed by British officials stationed in the
tropical areas of South Asia and Africa. As the quinine
powder was so bitter people began mixing the powder
with soda and sugar, and a basic tonic water was
created. The first commercial tonic water was produced
in 1858. The mixed drink gin and tonic also originated in
British colonial India, when the British population would
mix their medicinal quinine tonic with gin.

Soft drinks are made by mixing dry or fresh ingredients

with water. Production of soft drinks can be done at
factories or at home. Soft drinks can be made at home by
mixing a syrup or dry ingredients with carbonated water,
or by lactose-fermentation. Syrups are commercially sold
by companies such as Soda-Club; dry ingredients are
often sold in pouches, in a style of the popular U.S. drink
mix Kool-Aid. Carbonated water is made using a soda
siphon or a home carbonation system or by dropping dry
ice into water.

10
Cold drinks of different brands are composed of alcohol,
carbohydrates, carbon dioxide, phosphate ions etc.
These soft drinks give feeling of warmth, lightness and
have a tangy taste which is liked by everyone. Carbon
dioxide is responsible for the formation of froth on
shaking the bottle. The carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in
water to form carbonic acid which is also responsible for
the tangy taste. Carbohydrates are the naturally
occurring organic compounds and are major source of
energy to our body. General formula of carbohydrates is
CX (H2O)Y
Sucrose is one of the most useful disaccharides in our
daily life. It is widely distributed in nature in juices, seeds
and also in flowers of many plants. The main source of
sucrose is sugar cane juice which contain 15-20 %
sucrose and sugar beet which has about 10-17 % sucrose.
The molecular formula of sucrose is C12H22O11. It is
produced by a mixture of glucose and free dose. It is non-
reducing in nature whereas glucose is reducing. Cold
drinks are a bit acidic in nature and their acidity can be
measured by finding their pH value.

11
 Test Tube
 Test Tube Holder
 Test Tube Stand
 Stopwatch
 Beaker
 Burner
 pH Paper
 Tripod Stand
 China Dish
 Wire Gauge
 Water Bath.

CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
Iodine Solution
 Potassium Iodide
 Sodium Hydroxide
 Fehling’s A & B solution
 Lime Water
 Concentrated HNO3
 Benedict Solution
 Ammonium Molybdate

12
AIM: Determine the pH of the given sample using,
Universal indicator solution
THEORY: Acids are substances that produce free
hydrogen ions (H+ ions) when dissolved in water. Bases
are substances that produce hydroxyl ions (OH ions)
when dissolved in water. Acidic solutions are rich in
hydrogen ions and basic solutions are poor in hydrogen
ions. If the hydrogen ion concentration is very high, the
pH value is very low. Substances with pH lower than 7 are
acidic, those with pH equal to 7 are neutral and those
with pH greater than 7 are basic in nature.
PROCEDURE:
1. Take 4-5 drops of the soft drink in a test tube and add
a few drops of Universal Indicator solution.
2. Shake the test tube to mix the solutions properly till
solutions are properly mixed.
3. Note down the colour change produced by the
mixture.

13
 OBSERVATION:
Serial Number Name of drink Colour Change PH Value
1 Coca-Cola Pink 2-3
2 Sprite Orange 3-4
3 Limca orange 3-4
4 Fanta Pink 2-3

PH VALUES
4

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
Coca Cola Sprite Limca Fanta

RESULT:
Soft drinks are generally acidic because of the presence
of citric acid and phosphoric acid. pH values of cold drink
of different brands are different due to the variation in
number of acidic contents.

14
AIM: To test for carbon dioxide gas present in the drinks.
THEORY: Limewater is created with calcium hydroxide, or
Ca(OH)2. Named for the mineral, lime reacts with CO2 in
water to form calcium carbonate, which is white and
does not dissolve in water, causing the water to turn
cloudy. Similarly, when we exhale we are removing CO2
from our bodies, so breathing CO2 into the lime water
will produce the same reaction, though probably not as
quickly due to the smaller amount of CO2 in your breath.
Ca(OH)2 (aq) + CO2 (g)  CaCO3 (s) + H2O(aq)
(WHITE PPT)

PROCEDURE:
1. Mix 1L of water and 1 teaspoon of calcium oxide and
leave it over night . This will be our lime water.
2. Place a straw into a cold drink bottle cap such that
CO2 can pass through it.
3. Place the cap onto a filled cold drink bottle and
shake the bottle a little. CO2 will emerge from the
drink, now pass this CO2 from lime water through the
straw.

15
 OBSERVATION:
Serial Number Name of drink Time taken CO2
1 Coca-Cola 26 Present
2 Sprite 21 Present
3 Limca 35 Present
4 Fanta 36 Present

Chart Title
40

35

30

25
timle(S)

20

15

10

0
Coca Cola Sprite Limca Fanta
Cold Drinks

RESULT:
All the soft drinks contain dissolved carbon dioxide in
water. The carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in water to
form carbonic acid, which is responsible for its tangy
taste. Chemical reaction involved:
Ca(OH)2 (aq) + CO2(g) -> CaCO3 (s) + H2O(aq)

16
AIM: To test if glucose is present in the soft drinks.
THEORY: USING BENEDICT’S REAGENT
The principle of Benedict's test is that when reducing
sugars are heated in the presence of an alkali they are
converted to powerful reducing species known as
enediols. Enediols reduce the cupric compounds (Cu2+)
present in the Benedict's reagent to cuprous compounds
(Cu+ ) which are precipitated as insoluble red copper(I)
oxide(Cu2O). The colour of the obtained precipitate gives
an idea about the quantity of sugar present in the
solution; hence the test is semi-quantitative. A greenish
precipitate indicates about 0.5 g% concentration; yellow
precipitate indicates 1 g% concentration; orange
indicates 1.5 g% and red indicates 2 g% or higher
concentration.
PROCEDURE:
1. Mix small amount of each sample with distilled water
to make a test liquid.
2. To a test tube, add 40 drops of liquid to be tested.

17
4. Add 10 drops of Benedict's solution to each test tube.
Carefully heat the test tubes by suspending in a hot
water bath at about 40-50oC for five minutes.
5. Note any colour change.
OBSERVATION:
Serial Number Name of drink Observation Glucose
1 Coca-Cola Reddish colour Present
2 Sprite Reddish colour Present
3 Limca Reddish colour Present
4 Fanta Reddish colour Present

RESULT:
On heating soda with the Benedict’s reagent, the cupric
ion present in the Benedict’s reagent is reduced by the
reducing agent, sugar, to form a brick red coloured
precipitate of cuprous oxide.

Using Fehling’s Solution

THEORY: In this test the presence of aldehydes but not
ketones is detected by reduction of the deep blue
solution of copper (II) to a red precipitate of insoluble
copper oxide. The test is commonly used for reducing

18
sugars but is known to be not specific for aldehydes. For
example, fructose gives a positive test with Fehling's
solution so does acetoin. Two solutions are required:
 Fehling's "A" uses 7 g CuSO4.5H2O dissolved in distilled
water containing 2 drops of dilute sulfuric acid.
 Fehling's "B" uses 35g of potassium tartrate and 12g of
NaOH in 100 ml of distilled water
Procedure:
1. Take a test tube with a small sample of soda.
2. Using a dropper, take a small quantity of Fehling’s
solution A.
3. Add the Fehling’s solution A to the test tube.
4. Using a dropper, take a small quantity of Fehling’s
solution B.
5. Add Fehling’s solution B to the test tube.
6. Boil the sample over a burner for 2 minutes, in a water
bath.
7. Keep shaking the test tube while heating and then
note down the changes produced.

19
OBSERVATION:
[Link] Name of drink Observation Glucose
1 Coca-Cola Reddish Brown ppt Present
2 Sprite Reddish Brown ppt Present
3 Limca Reddish Brown ppt Present
4 Fanta Reddish Brown ppt Present

RESULT:
The cupric ion present in the Fehling’s solution is reduced
on boiling by the reducing substance, sugar, to form the
brick red coloured precipitate of cuprous oxide. It is one
of the main reasons why soft drinks are so bad for health,
due to their extremely high glucose content

20
AIM: To test if soft drinks have alcohol in them.
THEORY:
CH3CH2OH +4I2+ 6NaOH CHI3 + HCOONa +5NaI +5H2O
The reaction above shows the reaction that takes place
with the alcohol in the soft drinks, if present. When
Sodium Hydroxide and Iodine are added to the soft drink
it reacts to produce Iodoform, Sodium Iodide and Water.
The Iodoform produced from the reaction is a pale-
yellow colour which is what forms the precipitate,
showing us a visible result making it a useful test in
determining qualitatively the presence of alcohol in
substances.
Procedure:
1. Samples of each brand of cold drinks are taken in
sample test tube.
2. Iodine followed by potassium iodide and sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) solution are added to each test tube.
3. Then the test tube is heated in hot water bath for 30
minutes.

21
4. Note down the changes observed after the reaction is
completed.
OBSERVATION:
[Link] Name of drink Observation Alcohol
1 Coca-Cola Yellow ppt Present
2 Sprite Yellow ppt Present
3 Limca Yellow ppt Present
4 Fanta Yellow ppt Present

Result: All the brands of soft drinks contain alcohol. This

is proof as to why we call them “Soft” drinks, because
they have less than 0.5% of alcohol present in them. The
long-term side effects of consuming alcohol are well
known to everyone. So, is this really a drink children from
all ages should be having?

22
After conducting several tests, it was concluded that the
different brands of cold drinks namely:
 Coca-Cola
 Sprite
 Limca
 Fanta
All contain glucose, alcohol and carbon dioxide. All the
soft drinks are acidic in nature, which is what results in
the tangy taste of the soft drinks. On comparing the pH
value of different brands coca cola is most acidic and
Limca is least acidic of all the four brands taken. pH value
of Coca-Cola is nearly equal to a disinfectant which is
extremely harmful for a body. we can conclude that soft
drinks are extremely bad and the 100 billion $ industry
that is growing every year has to be stopped. The Indian
government is taking steps to ensure just that by banning
such drinks from being sold in school cafeterias, a step
definitely in the right direction.

23
1. Clean Car Battery Terminals.
2. Clean Your Dirty Toilet Bowl
3. Remove Rust Spots from Chrome
4. Clean Grease from Glass
5. Loosen Clogged Drains
6. Strip Paint from Metal Patio Furniture
7. Get Gum Out of Hair
8. Strip Dye from Hair.
9. Remove Grease from Clothes.
10. Remove Milk Stains from Clothes.
11. Remove Blood Stains from Clothes
12. Clean Coins

24
1. Use only the standard colour pH chart supplied with
the pH paper for assessing the pH value.
2. Keep the pH strips away from chemical fumes.
3. Either use fresh fine dropper or glass rod for each
different sample or wash the dropper or glass rod well
with water every time.
4. To correctly view the colour produced on the pH
paper, keep the pH paper on a white tile while
performing the experiment.
5. Quantity of the benedict’s solution is very important.
Before performing the test, make sure that you measure
the quantity of the benedict’s solution and this that you
are having it in the right amount.
6. Heating the mixture should be a gentle procedure.
Don’t try to be quick. Just keep it plain and gentle.
7. While adding the solution, just make sure that you are
adding only a few drops of it. Adding the solution in more
quantity could ruin the whole process
8. During the heating of the solution, make sure that it is
not facing any human

25
 [Link]

 [Link]

 [Link]

 [Link]

 [Link]

26