Investigating The Effect Of Concentration Of Salt Solution On The Mass Of Potato Chips

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Investigating The Effect Of Concentration Of Salt Solution On The Mass Of Potato Chips

Aim:

The aim of this investigation is to see whether the amount of salt

solution affects the mass of the potato chip

Hypothesis:

In the solution below, water will diffuse from the dilute solution

into the concentrated solution through the process of osmosis.

Therefore the dilute solution level will fall and the concentrated

level will rise

Line Callout 2: Disapproved (is unable to go through the semi permeable membrane O

Line Callout 2: Approved (is able to go through the semi permeable membrane P

Salt solution

Water

[IMAGE]

When a substance such as salt dissolves in water, the substance's

molecules stick with some of the water molecules, so the concentration

of the water molecules decreases. When the water molecules are the

same concentration on both sides of a semi permeable membrane and salt

is dissolved into one of them, osmosis will occur as shown in the

diagram below.

Semi permeable membrane

[IMAGE]Water molecules Salt molecules

[IMAGE]

Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a semi permeable

membrane from a region of high water concentration to a region of low

water concentration.

My prediction in this investigation is that the solution with the

least salt will make the potato weigh more, thus the potato in the

distilled water solution will weigh the heaviest, because there will

be a higher concentration of water molecules in the distilled water

than inside the potato cylinder. Therefore, water will move in from

high concentration to low concentration this will increase the mass. I

based my prediction on the process of osmosis, which is a special type

of diffusion. It occurs across a permeable membrane, which allows some

particles to diffuse through it and not others. Most cell membranes

are like that, being permeable to water and some solutes only. Osmosis

is therefore the diffusion of water through a partially permeable

membrane. The basic principles of diffusion apply here.

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