Proving Hypothesis of Osmosis Diffusion through Potato Experiment

Name: Croccifixia Juliette Zefanya 10 H

Osmosis is a familiar term that can be found in the biological world. The term
osmosis means a process where molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a
semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated
one, according to Hyper Physics. The process of Osmosis is one of the essential part of
cells movement that is initiated in order to maintain homeostasis and stability of water
concentration in any living creature. The importance of Osmosis is relatively very
unquestionable for plants because osmosis help plants to gain water by osmosis through
their roots. Water also move into the plants through Osmosis.
Hypertonic, Hypotonic, Isotonic are the terms and terminologies that are often
used to describe the differences between solutes concentration on a different level of
water concentration (high, low, or normal). They are also a part of the Osmosis, water
diffusion. Hypertonic is the term used to describe when the water concentration outside
of a cell is higher than inside of the cell. Hypotonic means that the water inside of the cell
is higher than the water concentration outside of the cell. Isotonic means that the water
concentration on both outside and inside of a cell is equal.
The author was assigned to do a group work along with three other group
members to conduct an experiment in order to prove the existence and the example of
Osmosis that can be found in daily life. The experiment conducted will be using potatoes
as the main ingredient to prove the hypothesis. The hypothesis that the author has
concluded along with her group members is: If the potato will be placed in a clear, and

normal water, then the potato will not experience much changes because the potato is
placed in a normal concentration area. If the potato is placed in a salt water environment
then the potato will experience a change on the color of the skin, the texture, and the
weight because it is placed in a water environment that contain salt.
In this experiment, the author and her group members will need to prepare
materials such as water, potatoes, beakers, and salt. In this experiment, the author will
experiment and place the potatoes in two different environment in order to prove her
hypothesis. The entire experiment will be held for one hundred minutes, 60 minutes will
be used for placing the potatoes and waiting for its reaction. And the rest of the time will
be used to analyze, and studying the changes from the conducted experiment.
In this experiment procedure, Materials needed are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Two beakers
Two potatoes with the same weight (3 or 4 gram)
A teaspoon
Two teaspoons of salt
200 ml of water
Graduated cylinder

When the entire materials needed are prepared, the steps of the procedure that
must be done and followed are:
1. Prepare all of the materials that are needed, recheck with your group
members or individually whether the materials are completed. Make sure
that all of the materials prepared like the beakers are in the same size.
2. Take the potatoes and recheck the weight of the potatoes to make sure they
are in the same weight
3. Place the potato in the table and take the beakers
4. Fill in the both beakers with water up until 200 ml

5. Make sure that the water filled is in the correct amount, distinguish any
extra water or fill in more water when it is not enough
6. Place both beakers on the table next to the potatoes
7. Prepare labels with names and place in both beakers to differentiate which
is going to contain salt and which is going to be used for a normal water
8. Place the labels on the beakers, ex: one label is water and the other is salt
9. Prepare the spoon and the salt
10. Take the tea spoon and place two teaspoons on one of the beaker with the
written and assigned label
11. Mix one of the beaker with salt water to mix the salt in the beaker
12. Set the timer using a phone or an alarm for sixty minutes
13. Place both of potatoes on the beaker carefully at the same time and
immediately start the timer
14. Wait for the time to finish and observe whether there is any physical
changes to the potatoes
15. When the times stops, remove each of the potatoes from the beaker and
place it on the table to be observed
16. Measure the weight of the potato using a measuring scale and write down
the weight after being placed in the beaker in the notebook
17. Place the potatoes back on the table
18. Observe if there is any physical changes that can be seen, the color of the
potatoes, and the texture of the potatoes
19. Write down every changes you found in the notebook
20. Measure the volume of the water on both of the beakers by pouring the
waters on the beakers into a graduated cylinder
21. Write down the result and the water after the experiment in the notebook
22. After writing down all the result, and the changes that occurred during the
experiment, began cleaning and finishing up the experiment
23. Throw the water on both beakers to a clean sink
24. Throw the potatoes or keep it in a clean environment
25. Clean up the table and return all of the materials back into the place
The author has conducted the experiment and followed every step of procedure
above. The result of the experiment can be seen by this table.

Salted Potato
Unsalted
Potato

Water preexperiment
200ml

Water postexperiment
178ml

Potato preexperiment
4g

Potato postexperiment
2g

200ml
200ml
4g
3g
The experiment conducted went very well, and there are changes that occurred on
both variables. However, there were not any changes that occurred to the color of the
water or the color of the potatoes. The water volume went through differences. For the
beaker that does not contain any salt, the water before the experiment did not experience
any changes on the volume. The water stayed on 200 ml before and after the experiment
was conducted. In the beaker that contains salt, the water volume decrease into 178 ml
from 200 ml. The volume decreases by 22 ml.
The water is not only the only variable that went through changes, the weight of
the potato on both salted and unsalted potatoes experience few changes. Post experiment,
the potatoes used are potatoes with the weight of 4g. The unsalted potatos weight
decrease by 1g when it is measured on the measurement scale, and the salted potatos
weight decrease by 2g. The unsalted potatos weight after the experiment was 3g while
the salted potato is only 2g. The author, along with her group members also noticed
changes on the texture.
The salted potato has a less dense texture, soft, squishy, texture compared to the
unsalted potato while the salted potato has a denser, and a more solid texture. The
recorded and main changes that can be found are only in the weight, the volume of the
water, and the texture of the potatoes. There is are no other record of physical changes
that the author observed and notice.

After the experiment was conducted, the author can concluded that the hypothesis
is proven. The hypothesis that was stated in the introduction section and stated: If the
potato will be placed in a clear, and normal water, then the potato will not experience
much changes because the potato is placed in a normal concentration area. If the potato is
placed in a salt water environment then the potato will experience a change on the color
of the skin, the texture, and the weight because it is placed in a water environment that
contain salt
The Hypothesis is proven because in the experiment, the potatoes did experience
changes into it. The reasoning of the interpretation that has been stated is that the potatoes
placed on both salt water and normal water experiment did experience changes. They also
have differences and similarities, main difference that was found is that the weight of
potatoes are different, and the volume of water are also different. After the experiment,
both potatoes have a lower weight than before. Although, the salted potato decreased
more weight compared to the unsalted potato.
The changes that occurred can also prove the existence of the diffusion of water
that we know as Osmosis. The texture that was found in the unsalted potato can be found
denser. While the salted potatos texture is less dense and is softer compared to the
unsalted potato. The unsalted potatos texture became denser because the potato has
soaked some of the water. The salted potatos texture and weight changed because there
was salt in the water. The cells inside the potato have had the water sucked out by the
higher concentration that was in the salt water. Although the salt water contains a small
amount of sodium, it is nowhere as concentrated as the salt inside the dish. The water

inside the potato has passed through the semi permeable membrane of the cell walls and
out into the water outside.