1. Caffeine & Reaction Time
D. Crowley, 2007

2. Caffeine & Reaction Time
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Caffeine & Reaction Time
To carry out an investigation into the effect of caffeine on reaction time

3. Reaction Time
Caffeine is a common, legal drug (stimulant) which affects the body in a variety of ways
It is found in many drinks, including coffee, tea, coke, red bull etc…
Your task is to complete an experiment to answer: does caffeine make you react quicker?

4. Planning
Write down a prediction for your experiment - say what you think will happen to your reaction time after your have some caffeine, and why
Write down a method for your investigation - consider: -
How can you find out if caffeine affects someone’s reaction time?
What drink will you use, and how much?
What will you measure, how will you take these measurements and how often?
Which factors will you keep the same, and which will you change?
How can this test be made fair?

5. Experiment
Write down your reaction time - record your resting heart rate before you have had any caffeine
Then record your reaction time - have your partner hold a meter ruler. At an unknown time the ruler is dropped. Where you catch it can be recorded (always drop the ruler the correct way around, and always measure from the bottom of your hand)
Now repeat all of the above immediately after you have had one cup of coke - do not have more than this
Finally wait five minutes and again repeat all the experiments

6. Caffeine
Fill in your own table of results, and work out your averages: -
Average = (result ) ÷ 3

7. Results (Graph)
Draw a graph of your results (one graph for heart rate, and one for reaction time)
Label your graphs, make them clear, and draw a line of best fit

8. Conclusion & Evaluation
What does your graph tell you? What can you say about the effects of heart rate and reaction time after caffeine is consumed?
How accurate is this experiment? Are your results reliable? Were there any anomalies? Are there enough results?
If you could improve this experiment what would you do?

9. Reaction Time Test Reaction Time (Test 1) Reaction Time (Test 2)
Have a go at the reaction time test - how quick are you?!
Reaction Time (Test 1)
Reaction Time (Test 2)