The Effect of Salt Solution Concentration On The Mass Of Potatoes

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The Effect of Salt Solution Concentration On The Mass Of Potatoes Introduction ============ In my investigation to find out how salt solution concentration affect the mass of potatoes, I will investigate how much the mass of a potato changes if I leave it in a beaker of water with a specified salt concentration for half an hour. I will change the salt concentration after each experiment. Background Knowledge -------------------- Osmosis is the passage of water molecules from a weaker solution to a stronger solution through a partially permeable membrane. A partially permeable membrane only allows small molecules to pass through, so the larger molecules remain in the solution they originated in. Solute molecule [IMAGE] [IMAGE] Water molecule [IMAGE] The water molecules move into the more concentrated solution. When water enters a plant cell it swells up. The water pushes against the cell wall and the cell eventually contains all that it can hold. The strong cells wall prevents bursting. The cell is turgid. If plant cells lose water the cells become limp and flaccid. Water is essential for support in plants. 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. Equipment Potato, Borer, Beakers, Measuring Cylinder, Stopclocks, Distilled Water, Electronic Balance, Salt solutions of various concentrations. Diagram [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] When we leave the potato in the solution for the allocated time, water

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