Investigation Of Osmosis In Potatoes
Aim:
To investigate the affect of different concentrations of sugar
solution on potato cells.
Variables:
The variables are; the concentration of sugar in the solution and the
mass of the potato cylinder. We will measure the mass of a potato
cylinder after a certain amount of time in a certain solution.
Fair test:
To keep the test fair we need to keep the controls the same. Like
keeping the temperature the same so the kinetic energy doesn't cause a
faster reaction.
Prediction:
I think that if the solution is more concentrated with sugar then the
mass should go down. I think this because the concentration is made
even inside and outside of the potato so water has to be removed to
equal the concentration levels. I think the opposite will happen in
weaker solutions, as water has to be placed in so the potato will
swell up and weigh more.
Apparatus:
This is the equipment we will use:
· Potato cylinders
· Cork boner (to make the cylinders)
· Beaker
· Ranger of sugar solutions (0M-1M)
· Balance
· 5 petri dishes
Diagram:
Method:
We will make four 2cm-potato cylinders using the cork boner for each
petri dish. We will measure each cylinder for its mass before the
experiment. We will then place the cylinders into the petri dishes for
around 5o minutes in each solution and then after the 50 minutes we
then re-weigh the cylinders to find either a decrease or an increase
in mass, note this down repeat it and make a conclusion on the
results.
Safety:
To keep the experiment safe we need to take extreme care when using
the scalpel. We also need to take care with the cork boner.
Results:
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1st Results of my experiment
We found that the higher the concentration of sugar in the solution
the more mass the potato lost.
Conclusion In my conclusion, the potatoes with the lowest concentration gained the most mass, and would become hard relating back to the Turgor theory I stated earlier. In contrast to this, the potatoes in the most concentrated solution lost the most weight thus becoming plasmolysed and limp also relating back to the background I have mentioned earlier. Evaluation In general the experiment was succesful the results were consistent and also were in accordance with the theories made at the start.. The experiment could have been improved by: · More subjects used instead of potatoes · More potatoes · Wider time ranger · Different molarities Using this variety of methods could have improved the experiemnt, however I was generally satisfied with the results of this osmosis experiement.
We then cut our potato tubes with the cork borer and cut them with the scalpel so they were the same length and weighed them. We then put one potato tube in each test tube and then added the same amount sugar solution in to each tube. The concentration of sugar solutions varied in each test tube.
Osmosis in Carrots Background Osmosis is the diffusion of water from a dilute solution to a more concentrated solution through a partially permeable membrane, which allows the pass of water molecules but not solute molecules. [IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE]If a cell is placed in a less concentrated solution water enters because the less concentrated solution will have a high concentration of water than the inside of the cell. Once the cell takes in maximum water the cell becomes turgid. If the cell was to be placed in a high concentrated solution, water would leave the cell because the cell would contain a low concentrated solution. So in the low concentrated solution there will be a high concentration of water and in the high concentrated solution there will be a low concentration of water.
* Note the mass down in the table at the end of the first page.
When I am not using them I will place them away from my experiment and
I am going to carry out an experiment to measure the change in mass of
So the experiment will be based upon the movement of water. The first potato chip will be placed in a zero percent solution. I believe that this will increase the mass. I believe this because the zero percent solution has a lower concentration than the cell sap inside the potato. The potato takes on the water through osmosis and the cell pushes out from inside the cell making it swell and become more rigid.
When doing this experiment I was able to see the effect of different concentrations on the rate of osmosis, each was done by measuring the initial mass and length of the potato cylinder and after osmosis, the results were conducted to show that as the sucrose concentration increases the rate of osmosis also increases as I said in my hypothesis thusly making a direct decrease in mass.
Conclusions: There is a pattern on the graph, and data table, which shows that as the concentration of the sucrose solution increases, the potato's percentage change in mass decreases.
the same way as it does potato. I would also widen the range of sugar
However, the solution could be more water than salt so the water from the solution could be more concentrated than the water inside the potato cells. If so then In theory the water in the solution should diffuse into the potato. cells and increase in mass. Apparatus: Potato to perform the experiment on. Thin metal tube to cut potato chops with.
Investigating the Effect of Sugar Solution on the Weight and Size of Potato Cells Aim: To investigate whether the different concentration of sugar solution will affect the weight and size of the potato cells. General background information: Osmosis is defined as the movement of water or any other solution's molecules from an area in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. This movement must take place across a partially permeable membrane such as a cell wall, which lets smaller molecules (E.g. water) through but does not allow larger solute molecules to pass through. The molecules will continue to diffuse until the area in which the molecules are found to reach a state of equilibrium, meaning that the molecules are equally distributed throughout the cell, with no area having a higher or lower concentration than any other hence equal. Hypothesis/prediction: For this particular investigation I believe that the lower the concentration of the sugar solution in the test tube the mass of the potato will be greater and the longer the potato cells will be.
Prediction I think that when the potato is placed in distilled water the potato mass will increase. This is because water, has, if pure, a weaker concentration than the potato, and the water molecules move in through a partially permeable membrane by osmosis. If the potato is in a high concentration salt solution, the potato mass will decrease because the potato is less concentrated than the salt solution, and the water will move through the partially permeable membrane into the stronger solution. However, if the potato mass stays the same after the experiment, this means that the water/salt solution and the potato must be of equal concentration.
there would be no flow of water into or out of the cell so the cell
When you place a potato chip in a salt or sugar solution, then if the