Biology AT1 - OsmosisSkill area PAimTo investigate a factor which might affect the movement of water in and out of cells.IntroductionOsmosis is the movement of water in and out of cell membranes, which act as semi-permeable membranes. Semi permeable membranes are cells, which only take in a limited amount of a liquid. The water passes from a region of high to a region of low concentration, until the two are equal in concentrations of water.If a cell is placed in water or a dilute solution than the cell will take in the water and it will swell up. It will increase in size and not burst as this is due to the fact that the cell walls are made from cellulose, which is extremely strong. Afte ...view middle of the document...
§ The different sizes of vegetable chipsThis will change the amount of solution taken into the piece of vegetable and also will alter the end results.§ The concentration of the solutionIf the concentration of the solution changes then it can change how much the potato will increase/decrease in size and will therefore modify the end results.§ The type of vegetableIf a different type of vegetable is used then there can be a difference of the size of the cell membrane inside the vegetable, which will change the amount of solution soaked into the vegetable, which will then adjust the end result.PredictionMy prediction is that if the concentration of Sodium Chloride in each solution increases, than the vegetable chunk will decrease in mass, length and width.(If the concentration of Sodium Chloride in each solution decreases, than the vegetable chunk will increase in mass, length and width.)My reasoning behind this is that the higher the concentration of Sodium Chloride in a solution, the concentration of water will be lower. When the potato chip is put into the solution, it will lose some of its water. The water will then spread into the solution of Sodium Chloride, causing the potato chip to lose water, therefore decreasing in weight, width and length.MethodFirst of all I set up six cups of the same size and labelled them from A - F. I filled each of them with different amounts of distilled water and Sodium Chloride but each added upto 100ml.§ In cup A - 100ml of distilled water.§ In cup B - 80ml of distilled water and 20ml of Sodium Chloride.§ In cup C - 60ml of distilled water and 40ml of Sodium Chloride.§ In cup D - 40ml of distilled water and 60ml of Sodium Chloride.§ In cup E - 20ml of distilled water and 80ml of Sodium Chloride.§ In cup F - 100ml of Sodium Chloride.Then I got a fairly large potato and using a 10mm wide cork borer to cut six potato chips from it. All of them with the length of 55mm, a mass averaged at 5.95g, a width of exactly 10mm and the temperature of each cup was averaged at 22˚C across the whole experiment. I put the six cups in order alongside each other. In order to make it as much of a fair test as possible, I added the potato chips very quickly, to make sure one chip didn't have a longer amount of time in the solution than another. I left the experiment for 30 minutes.After the 30 minutes I emptied all the six cups of the solution and left the potato chips inside them. Before I went to measured the potato pieces I put them all in a piece of paper towel to soak up the excess dampness from the potato chips. I then measured the chips on an electric weighing machine, as it is more accurate with digits.ApparatusThe equipment I used:§ Potatoes§ Sodium Chloride§ Scalpels§ White tiles§ Rulers§ Cork borers§ Plas...
