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I will be carrying out an investigation into the factors that affect osmosis in potato tissue. In order to carry this out, I will need some good background knowledge
Background Knowledge
If a dilute solution is separated from a concentrated solution by a partially permeable membrane, water diffuses across the membrane from the dilute to the concentrated solution. This is known as osmosis.
A partially permeable membrane is porous but allows water to pass through it more rapidly than dissolved substances.
Since a dilute solution contains more water molecules than a concentrated solution, there is a diffusion gradient that favours the passage of water from the dilute to the concentrated solution.
In living cells, the cell membrane is partially permeable and the cytoplasm and vacuole (plant cells) contain dissolved substances. As a result, water tends to diffuse into cells by osmosis if they are surrounded by a weak solution, for example fresh water. If the cells are surrounded by a stronger solution like seawater, the cells may lose water through osmosis.
The water potential of a solution is a measure of whether it is likely to lose or gain water molecules from another solution. A dilute solution, with its high amount of free water molecules, is said to have higher water potential than a concentrated solution, because water will flow from the dilute to the concentrated solution (from a high water potential to a low water potential). Pure water has the highest possible water potential because water molecules will flow from it to any other aqueous solution, no matter how dilute.
The cytoplasm of a plant cell and the cell sap in its vacuole contains salts, sugars and proteins which effectively reduce the concentration of free water molecules inside the cell. The cell wall is freely permeable to water and dissolved substances, but the cell membrane of the cytoplasm is partially permeable. If a plant cell is surrounded by water or a solution more dilute than its contents, water will pass into the vacuole by osmosis. The vacuole will expand and press outwards on the cytoplasm and cell wall. The cell wall of a mature plant cell cannot be stretched, so there comes a time when the inflow of water is resisted by the un-stretchable cell wall.
This has a similar effect to inflating a soft bicycle tyre. The tyre represents the firm cell wall, the floppy inner tube is like the cytoplasm and the air inside corresponds to the vacuole. If enough air is pumped in, it pushes the inner tube against the tyre and makes the tyre hard. A plant cell with the vacuole pushing out on the cell wall is said to be turgid and the vacuole is exerting turgor pressure on the cell wall. If the vacuole loses water for any reason, the cells will lose their turgor and become flaccid.
Factors that might affect Osmosis
FactorReason
Length of potatoIf one potato is larger than another, then that means one will have a larger surface area. Having a larger surface area will increase the rate of osmosis as the cells will be able to absorb more. I will need to keep the lengths the same.
Amount of solutionHaving more solution could increase the rate of osmosis as there are more free water molecules. Having less would have the opposite effect.
TimeIf I take the potato out from the solution too early then the cells might not have reached their water potential. I need to make sure each potato is taken out after the same amount of time.
PressureAfter I have taken the potato out from the solution, I will need to dry it before I weigh it (to take off the excess surface water still on). I will do this by rolling the cylinder of potato on a piece of blotting paper. However I need to keep the pressure of rolling the same because if I roll too hard some water from the cells may be squeezed out, ruining my experiment.
TemperatureThe temperature may affect the reliability of the experiment for example at extreme temperatures the cells of the potato may die and at less extreme temperatures the experiment may be speeded up. To keep this from happening, all the test tubes will be kept in the same place and at the same time of the one-hour experiment.
The PotatoDifferent potatoes have different ages and sizes, which means one potato might have more water in it than another.
EvaporationThis is because if the sugar solution evaporates past the level of the potato, then the potato sample will have less surface area in the solution so this would make osmosis happen much slower. To stop any solution evaporating a cork lid can be placed on top of the test tube.
Prediction
From my background biological knowledge on osmosis, I predict that
The weaker the concentration of the salt solution, the greater the amount of water that enters the potato tissue by osmosis. Therefore the mass will increase when I reduce the concentration of the solution.
Variables involved
For this experiment I would expect to havedifferent variables, Independent, Dependent, and fixed variables, which all helps me to plan and explain the experiment thoroughly.
The Independent variable (factors you change), the thing that I will be changing in this investigation into the factors affecting osmosis, is the concentrations of the solution that helps me to investigate osmosis with potato tissues. The different concentrations will be changed to see the result of the potatoes when placed in different molar salt solutions.
Dependent Variable (factors that you measure), the things that Ill be measuring in this experiment on osmosis is the mass change and length change of the potatoes placed in different molarities of salt solutions. I will record the masses in grams by using a balance and the length changes by using a ruler.
Fixed Variables (factors that you keep the same), the things that I have chosen to keep the same in each individual experiment to keep it a fair test are
1.Amount of Solution
.Time left for osmosis to occur
.Pressure at which dried
4.The Potato
5.Temperature
6.Apparatus
Apparatus
· Cork Borer
· Water
· Forceps
· Timer
· Measuring cylinder
· Blotting Paper
· Potato
· 0.m, 0.4m, 0.6m, 0.8m, 1 molar of water solutions
· Weighing balance
· Test tubes
· Test tube rack
· Cling Film
· Sticky labels
· Ruler
Safety procedures
Safety is an important aspect in every experiment, even if the experiment seems to be very harmless. This is why Ill be taking this into consideration.
I will be using a very sharp knife, which could injure someone if its not handled properly. I will also be very careful that the solutions dont get into our bodies internally, just in case, because we are not fully aware of the damage it could do to us. I will also be wearing an apron due to any solutions getting to my clothes.
But other than that, there werent any bigger matters to be cautious of.
Method
I plan to carry out this experiment by using all the safety issues and fair testing procedures to give me the most reliable and most accurate set of results.
I plan to have a range of salt solutions prepared with concentrations from 0M to 1.0M, in intervals of 0., (so I will only be taking 6 different molarities, as this should be more than enough to explain the effects of the potato on osmosis). Then sections of potato will be cut using a cork borer and knife to equal lengths (5cm) keeping the surface area constant. I will then measure each tissue of potato using a measuring scale, measured in grams. I will then add 10ml of each concentration of water solution in two test tubes, giving me a total of 1 test tubes, and labelling each molar reading. Then to each test tube a cut piece of potato will be added and its concentration added to the label. These will be left for 1 hour. Then the potato pieces will be removed from the test tubes with the forceps, and surface solution on the potato will be removed using blotting paper. I will then measure the potatoes again, recording its change in mass by weighing them. I will then be taking the two readings of each molar concentration. This is because I will be doing a repetition of the experiment, as it will save me valuable time. These results will be taken for each concentration in order to get an average and reduce the effect of anomalous resulting.
As it is difficult to get the cut potato pieces to the same mass it was decided that I would use a percentage change in mass that will be used to compare the data in the results, as this would be far more accurate. I will do this by taking the difference in mass after and divide it by the mass before, and multiply it by 100.
After looking at my preliminary work it suggested that there wasnt enough concentrations of water to compare each result to each other, so their will be 6 different sugar concentrations to choose from for the actual experiment. The timing of the potatoes in my preliminary work was left for too long but this is an advantage, as I now know the suitable amount of time to leave the potato in for. I will therefore be leaving the potato in the solution for 1 hour. I will also be measuring the mass change as a percentage as it will be more appropriate so that reasonable results could be obtained.
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