Osmosis in Potato Cells

Osmosis in Potato Cells

I am going to do an experiment to find the concentration of solute in

potato cells. In order to find the best way to do this experiment I am

going to do a preliminary test first.

For my preliminary test I decided to use potato cylinders 3cm long and

I would see if the cylinders increased or decreased in mass. I used

salt solution in three different concentrates: 0.0M, 0.5M and 1.0M. I

put 20cm3 of each concentrate into 3 different boiling tubes, which

were then placed in test tube racks. I then placed a cylinder of

potato in each boiling tube and left them for three days. My results

were inconclusive because I left them in the solutions for too long so

the potato cylinders started growing mould. I tried to measure them to

see if any of them had increased or decreased in mass and I decided

that it would be easier, and more accurate if I weighed the potato

cylinders before and after putting them into the solution and if I

chopped a 3cm potato cylinder into small pieces to increase the

surface area. So although my preliminary test didn’t give me a range

of results to expect, I had discovered more accurate ways of doing the

experiment. I decided to use a wider range of concentrates, starting

with 0.0M (distilled water) and go up by 0.1M until I reach 1.0M and I

will only leave them for 2 days instead of 3.

My experiment must be as fair as possible so I obtain accurate

results. First of all I will carefully washed out 11 boiling tubes,

making sure there are no other chemicals left inside from previous

experiments. I will then prepare my solutions my mixing 1.0M with

distilled water (0.0M) until I have the r...

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...e were no strange results and they produced a good graph. If I had

the chance it would be a good idea to expand the experiment further by

looking at the potato slices under a microscope, which would enable me

to look at the cells more closely and draw some more observational

results to be able to look more closely at the way the potato

cylinders expanded and changed shape. I would also like to repeat the

experiment a few more times so I could get a better average of my

results. I think it would be a good idea to go up in 0.05M instead of

0.1, or even in 0.025M but I realise that this would be hard to

measure out accurately without the use of scientific measuring

devices. I would like to use these solution increases because this

would then produce a wider range of results which will make the

pattern clearer to see.