Osmosis Essay, Research Paper

Osmosis

1. Introduction

We recently did an experiment on osmosis and it really helped me understand diffusion and osmosis much better. This experiment was really easy. We put the egg into three different types of liquids, vinegar, corn syrup, and water. My hypotheses for the egg in the vinegar was that the shell would be removed and dissolve. For the corn syrup I thought that the whole egg would break apart including the including the yolk. My hypothesis for the water was that nothing will happen to the egg.

Vinegar

2.procedure

1. Get egg and weight it. Find volume of egg using water displacement method in ml.

2. Use graduated cylinder to measure 400ml. of vinegar. Place egg in beaker and pour vinegar next.

3.Cover beaker with handiwrap and use a rubber band to prevent evaporation. Lets sit for two days.

4. After two days observe what happened and write it down in the space labeled observations.

3.Data and Drawings

egg in vinegar

mass of egg volume of egg volume of liquid

Before 59.7 56 400

After 86.2 92 370

4.anylasis

The vinegar has dissolved the shell of the egg and some vinegar has gone into the egg by osmosis. The vinegar was a hypotonic solution and the egg was hypertonic solution. There is some vinegar that has diffused through the membrane of the shell. The volume is much more than before along with the mass. The egg was really slimy, it was a bit bigger, and had no hard shell. The arrows show that there is vinegar going into the egg and not leaving the egg.

5.conclusion

In conclusion the vinegar has gone from an area with lesser concentration with an area with greater concentration. The membrane of the egg in vinegar is impermeable. This membrane is very tight and didn’t let much liquid through.

Corn Syrup

2.procedure

1. Fill clean beaker to 200ml. with corn syrup.

2. After rinsing egg, place in beaker. Record how much syrup placed in beaker.

3. Next day, remove the egg and record observations, mass, volume of

egg and syrup.

3.Data and Drawings

egg in corn syrup

mass of egg volume of egg volume of liquid

Before 86.2 92 200

After 44.1 37 237

4.anylasis

The egg has shrunk in the corn syrup because the water in the egg came out and the volume was lower and there was more water in the beaker than before. The egg looked like it was deflated and you could see the yolk. Instead of the egg being a hypertonic solution the corn syrup is and the egg is a hypotonic solution. The arrows show that the liquid is coming out instead of going through the eggs membrane. As you can see the mass has decreased almost half of what it used to be.

5.conclusion

so the egg as went through osmosis once again but the liquid has gone to the outside of the eggs membrane because there is lesser concentration outside and higher inside. The membrane in this case was very permeable. The corn syrup being the solvent has increased because the solute, or the egg, has diffused.

Water

2.procedure

1. Measure 200ml. of water in a clean beaker. record this amount.

2. Rinse egg and place into water carefully.

3. the next day, remove the egg and measure the amount of water left in the beaker. Write this amount on the chart along with the observations, mass, volume of egg.

3.Data and Drawings

egg in water

mass of egg volume of egg volume of liquid

Before 39.7 37 200

After 91.5 91 112

4.anylasis

The water, being hypotonic, diffused into the egg and the egg, hypertonic, got much bigger. The membrane went from very loose to really tight. The egg looked like it was back to the size it was before we put it in the corn syrup and it kind of felt like a water balloon.

5.Conclusion

In conclusion the membrane was very permeable to the water and osmosis occurred. There was greater concentration in the water and lower in the egg and that’s why the egg let osmosis occur. The water was the solvent and the egg is the solute.

Final conclusion

My final conclusion is that the eggs membrane has a different reaction to every liquid that it is in. like when the egg was in the vinegar it had a somewhat semipermeable membrane and there was greater concentration in the water. The liquid in all three experiments we did was always the solvent and the egg was always the solute. The egg changed from hypertonic to hypotonic once and it changed back to hypertonic. With the egg in the corn syrup there was a very permeable membrane and the mass changed a big amount. After putting the egg in the water for a day though the membrane was still permeable and had gained all the liquid back in it and it went back to the normal size and mass. In all these experiments the liquids went from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration. The membranes went from tight to very loose and then back to tight by osmosis. I never understood osmosis before this but now I know all I need to know about it. Diffusion is something I really know about now also. My hypothesis for the egg in the vinegar was correct. For the corn syrup, that was incorrect and the same with the egg in the water.