Osmosis Lab Report
Osmosis Lab
Research Question: In this lab, our goal was to look at the effects of different sucrose concentrations on osmosis in potatoes. Our research question was “How do the sugar levels affect the rate of osmosis in potatoes?”.
Background Information:
Solutions consist of solutes dissolved in a solvent. In all living organisms there are many different types of solutes including salts and sugars. The major solvent is water. There are different concentrations of solutes in various regions of an organism, including differences between the inside and the outside of the cell. Living organisms tend towards balance with their environment. Cells achieve this through diffusion. This is the random movement of solutes from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration. Osmosis is a special case of diffusion. Osmosis is the movement of water through a selectively permeable membrane. During osmosis, water molecules diffuse through the membrane from a region of higher water potential to lower water potential until equilibrium is reached. (1) In this lab, the idea was to see how the mass changed as osmosis occurred and water flowed into or out of the potato.
Hypothesis:
Our hypothesis was “If the sucrose levels in the water are high, then the osmosis will occur at a less frequent rate. However, if the concentration of the solution is less than that of the potato (like in distilled water), then the mass of the potato will increase.”
Independent and Dependent Variable: The independent variable in this lab was the sucrose concentration. The dependent variable in this lab was the mass of the potato slice.
Control Group and Controlled Variables: The control group included the cup that was just water, no sucrose. To ensure that the experiment was valid, we had to control several things to make sure that the conditions and results would be the same. These variables were the time the potato strips were in the solution, the amount of solution the potato
Research Question: In this lab, our goal was to look at the effects of different sucrose concentrations on osmosis in potatoes. Our research question was “How do the sugar levels affect the rate of osmosis in potatoes?”.
Background Information:
Solutions consist of solutes dissolved in a solvent. In all living organisms there are many different types of solutes including salts and sugars. The major solvent is water. There are different concentrations of solutes in various regions of an organism, including differences between the inside and the outside of the cell. Living organisms tend towards balance with their environment. Cells achieve this through diffusion. This is the random movement of solutes from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration. Osmosis is a special case of diffusion. Osmosis is the movement of water through a selectively permeable membrane. During osmosis, water molecules diffuse through the membrane from a region of higher water potential to lower water potential until equilibrium is reached. (1) In this lab, the idea was to see how the mass changed as osmosis occurred and water flowed into or out of the potato.
Hypothesis:
Our hypothesis was “If the sucrose levels in the water are high, then the osmosis will occur at a less frequent rate. However, if the concentration of the solution is less than that of the potato (like in distilled water), then the mass of the potato will increase.”
Independent and Dependent Variable: The independent variable in this lab was the sucrose concentration. The dependent variable in this lab was the mass of the potato slice.
Control Group and Controlled Variables: The control group included the cup that was just water, no sucrose. To ensure that the experiment was valid, we had to control several things to make sure that the conditions and results would be the same. These variables were the time the potato strips were in the solution, the amount of solution the potato