Demonstration of Osmosis in Potato Essay Example
Demonstration of Osmosis in Potato Essay Example

Demonstration of Osmosis in Potato Essay Example

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Although we had a hypothesis about potato osmosis, the data we collected did not support the traditional definition of this process. According to convention, osmosis involves water moving through a semi-permeable membrane from an area with low solute concentration to one with high solute concentration. However, our results did not match this explanation. We expected that potato chips placed in solutions with higher solute concentrations would lose more weight due to lower solute concentrations inside them and water flowing out towards the solution. Unfortunately, our experiment did not confirm this prediction. As a result, we needed to rely on Mrs. Walters' provided data since ours didn't correspond to the meaning of osmosis.

After converting the new data into a graph, it is observable that there is a decrease in the mass of potato as the concentration of sucrose solution increases. The ex

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periment conducted by Mrs. Walters indicates the formation of a hypertonic environment in the test tubes overnight wherein the cells were losing their mass due to water flowing outside. Moving forward, errors in the experiment will be ranked and evaluated based on potato condition, electronic balance, temperature, and repetition.

Our experiment's primary flaw was the absence of repetition, which would have yielded more precise and dependable data to bolster our Osmosis argument. However, due to time constraints, we were unable to repeat it. As scientists, repetition is critical because relying on inaccurate data could pose a problem. Mrs. Walters pointed out our erroneous findings, highlighting the significance of repetition. To enhance our outcome accuracy, we should perform the experiment at least three times in future.

The condition of the potatoes used in our experiment rendered

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it unsuccessful. As they were frozen, there could have been an impact on the outcome. Freezing leads to the expansion of materials, and in this instance, it likely ruptured the cell wall, thereby interfering with the Osmosis process and providing inaccurate data.

Due to the wet and squishy condition of the potatoes, it was difficult to achieve uniformity in chip sizes. Multiple potatoes were utilized, but this did not result in accurate shapes and sizes. A solution to this issue is to employ fresh and unfrozen potatoes for more dependable data. Furthermore, our electronic balance had limited precision, potentially impacting our results. Using a device with greater value measurement capabilities should be considered for future experiments.

It is important to control the temperature of the sucrose solution to prevent any potential impact on the process of Osmosis. A higher temperature can accelerate Osmosis compared to a lower temperature. Our experiment involved leaving potatoes in different temperature conditions, where the AC was on during class but off at night. This may have affected our results. To improve accuracy, a thermometer should be used before conducting experiments, and test tubes should be stored in a controlled temperature environment.

To enhance future experiments, it is advisable to regulate temperature, utilize fresh potatoes and appropriate equipment. An alternative experiment involves examining the impact of heat on osmosis. Alternatively, a salt solution may be employed in place of a sugar solution to observe dissimilarities.

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