The Osmosis Lab

The project idea is to apply an experiment that circulates around diffusion which is the diffusion of water molecules through a membrane which is the potato cores in this experiment. The aim of this project is to find the effect of the sucrose concentration on the mass of the potato. It's considered an essential project because it demonstrates new ideas about a lesson in science which is diffusion.

The video:

The experiment was about measuring the mass of potato cores before and after placing them inside a tube of distilled water, and 5 tubes that consist of differently concentrated solutions of sucrose in water. The research question that this experiment circulates around is how the increase in the concentration of sucrose in water affects the mass of the potato ?. Accordingly, the goal of this experiment is to discover the effect of differently concentrated solutions on the mass of the potato cores.

If the concentration of sucrose increases, then the mass of the potato cores will increase accordingly and this can be proved in the process of osmosis. In which osmosis occurs to balance between the concentration of water in a substance and in the air which adds water to air and this makes the air denser. Moreover, the potato cores mass will increase due to adding more amounts of sucrose, because when adding more amounts of sucrose the potato will swallow more sucrose which has a certain mass that will be added to the potato.

Variables are the factors in an experiment that can be controlled, changed (affected), or measured in an experiment. The variables are divided into three different types which are the controlled variable, dependent variable, and the independent variable.

Dependent variable:

The mass of the potato cores is the dependent variable because it gets affected due to the change in the concentration of sucrose. The mass of the potato cores can be found using the weight balance which gives the mass of the potato cores in grams.

Independent variable:
The concentration of sucrose is the independent variable in the experiment because the higher concentration of sucrose increases the mass of the potato cores. Moreover, the concentration of sucrose changes as the potato cores get exposed to different concentrations of sucrose which are 0.2, 0.4,0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 in order to determine the relationship between the concentration of sucrose and the potato cores mass.

Controlled variable:
The water is the controlled variable because it stays constant and can be controlled by adding more amounts of water or fewer amounts of water into the testing tubes.

The mass is one of the factors that can be recognized from the background research because it's an essential part of many experiments. Mass is defined as a unit that measures the size of an object as weight in grams (for low weight objects), in kilograms for heavy objects, and in ton for superheavy objects such as machines. In addition, is an essential part of this experiment which is considered as a type of diffusion that can be defined as the movement of water molecules from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration through a membrane. Osmosis is very similar to the other types of diffusion, in which there is only one factor that makes it different or special which is the fact that it's applied only for water molecules.

Potato

Potato coring device

Razorblade

6 testing tubes

Distilled water

Beaker

Weight balance

0.2 ml of the solution in water

0.4 ml of the solution in water

0.6 ml of the solution in water

0.8 ml of the solution in water

1.0 ml of the solution in water

Safety equipment: safety goggles and the lab coat

Before starting the experiment there were tools that were required for safety precautions which are the safety goggles the lab coat, and gloves.

-First, prepare the materials that are required for the experiment.

-Second, pour distilled water in a beaker then pour it into the testing tube until it's filled up and name it as distilled water.

-Third, pour water into the beaker then pour the water with a concentration of 0.2 ml of sucrose into the second testing tube and name it as s1.

-Fourth, pour water into the beaker then pour the water with a concentration of 0.4 ml of sucrose into the third testing tube and name it as s2.

-Fifth, pour water into the beaker then pour the water with a concentration of 0.6 ml of sucrose into the fourth testing tube and name it as s3.

-Sixth, pour water into the beaker then pour the water with a concentration of 0.8 ml of sucrose into the fifth testing tube and name it as s4.

-Seventh, pour water into the beaker then pour the water with a concentration of 1.0 ml of sucrose into the sixth testing tube and name it as s5.

-Eighth, Use the coring device to cut the potato into 12 small pieces, then remove the potato skin using the razor blade.

-Ninth, measure the mass of two potato cores using the weight balance.

-Tenth, place 2 potato cores in each testing tube and check them after 24 hours.

-Eleventh, remove the potato cores from the testing tubes and measure the weight of each two.

-Finally, record the observations and take notes.

It's clearly noticeable that there is a positive relationship between the solution's concentration and the mass of the potato in which as the solution's concentration increases, the mass of the potato cores increases. In other words, the mass of the potato cores (dependent variable) depends on the solution's concentration (Independent variable) to change (positively because it increases) and throw out the experiment. For instance, when the potato cores were exposed to the first solution (0.2 g/l) the potato cores had a mass of 10.68, while when the potato cores were exposed to another solution of 0.4 g/l it had a mass of 10.72.

The results of the experiment were as the following, the potato cores which were exposed to the first solution with a concentration of 0.2 g/l had a mass of 10.68, the potato cores which were exposed to the second solution with a concentration of 0.4 g/l had a mass of 10.72, while the potato cores which were exposed to the third solution with a concentration of 0.6 g/l had a mass of 10.76. Furthermore, the potato cores which were exposed to the fourth solution with a concentration of 0.8 had a mass of 10.80, finally, the potato core that were exposed to the fifth and lastsolution with a concentration of 1.0 had a mass of 10.84.

Since the data shows that the potato cores which were exposed to solution 1 which has a concentration of 0.2 g/l had a new mass of 10.68 g, the potato cores which were exposed to solution 2 which has a concentration of 0.4g/l had a new mass of 10.72 g, and the potato cores which were exposed to the solution 3 which has a concentration of 0.6 g/l had a new mass of 10.76g, the potato cores which were exposed to the solution 4 which has a concentration of 0.8 g/l had a new mass of 10.80 and the potato core which were exposed to the solution 5 which has a concentration of 1.0 had a new mass of 10.84. For that reason, the hypothesis is correct, In which each time the concentration increases, the mass of the potato cores increases accordingly as it has been noticed in the data.

This type of research is essential for humanity because it plays an essential role in plant's lives which are an essential factor for human's lives as well, as they provide the necessities for breathing (oxygen) and food. In which osmosis occurs in plants to balance between the amount of water in the air and in the plant in which the plants have higher amounts of water than air, so water diffuses into the air until the amount of water in both the plant and air is equal. But if the plant is not watered to replace the lost amount of water, it wouldn't survive so obviously it will die. This topic could be practiced in various experiments such as gummy bears and sugar cubes by exposing them to solutions with different concentrations.

I utilized Communication skills by giving an introductory video that includes the necessary means to present my idea in the project clearly which included a background related to the topic. In addition, I added some photos that clearly showcase the part of the project that I am discussing (in the instructable).

Images used:

https://www.google.com/search?q=problem&safe=stric...

https://www.google.com/search?q=hypothesis&safe=st...

https://www.google.com/search?q=variables&safe=str...

https://www.google.com/search?q=background+researc...

https://www.google.com/search?q=materials+in+exper...

https://www.google.com/search?q=procedure&safe=str...

https://www.google.com/search?q=data+analysis&safe...

https://www.google.com/search?q=osmosis+lab+&tbm=i...

https://www.google.com/search?q=real+life+applicat...

https://www.google.com/search?q=evaluation&tbm=isc...

https://www.google.com/search?q=results&safe=stric...

https://www.google.com/search?q=references&safe=st...

The experiments data:

Due to the current situation and Covid-19, I couldn't collect the required materials to perform the experiment for that reason, I relied on data derived from another person's experiment.