Bennett Williams

Period 5 Group 5
1/12/12
Rubber Egg Lab
Problem:
How does the cell membrane work?
Hypothesis:
I think that the egg is going to get bigger after the water and smaller after the
corn syrup.
Materials:
Part 1- bowl, 3 eggs, vinegar, water
Part 2- ruler, paper, corn syrup, bowl
Procedure:
Part 1-
1. Put 3 eggs in a bowl
2. Pour vinegar over top until completely covered
3. Let it sit for 2 days
4. Measure the circumference of all eggs
Part 2-
1. Place two it the same bowl, but use water
2. Let it sit for 2 days
3. Measure the circumference of all eggs
4. Place one in the same bowl, but use corn syrup
5. Let it sit for 2 days
6. Record all data
Controlled Variables:
Same vinegar, climate, amount, water, corn syrup, amount of time
Data:
After soaking in vinegar, the eggs lost their shell and became more plump. This
made them softer and able to bounce. After water for 2 days, nothing much
happened, but they got a little bigger in circumference. Finally after corn syrup,
the eggs deflated and decreased in circumference severely.


Egg 1 Before Vinegar
After Vinegar
12.5
15
Egg 2

Before Vinegar
After Vinegar
12.5
15
Egg 3

Before Vinegar
After Vinegar
12.5
15
Egg 1

Before Water
After Water
15
16
Egg 2

Before Water
After Water
15
15.5
Egg 1

Before Corn Syrup
After Corn Syrup
16
12.25

Conclusions:
1. I can make the conclusion that after the shell dissolved, the rest acted as
the cell membrane. This kept all of the insides in. This can be shown by the
vinegar making the egg bigger, and the corn syrup making it smaller.
2. In my experiment, the eggs went from 12.5 to 15 to 16 to 12.25. This data
shows how the eggs increased and decreased during the experiment. Also
this proves that the outside of the egg served as the cell membrane.
3. Yes my hypothesis was somewhat correct because it did increase after the
water, but mostly after the vinegar. Also it was correct because the eggs did
get smaller and deflate after being in the corn syrup for 2 days.
4. One reason my data may have been inaccurate, is that I didnt take out the
eggs after exactly 48 hours each time. Another reason might be because its
impossible to measure the exact circumference of the egg every time.
5. If I were to do this experiment again, I would mix corn syrup and vinegar to
see what would happen. Next time, I would also add new vinegar after two
days to see if the eggs got even bigger.
6. To extend this experiment further, I would do it for a longer period of time,
and try other liquids other than these. To go even further, I would have a
bigger sample size, and maybe try a different climate, eg. the freezer.