An investigation into Osmosis and the effect on cells.

Aim; To identify what change and differences in the mass of the Racemus sp, when placed in several different sucrose solutions. How does the mass difference of racemus sp change due to change of sucrose solution through osmosis? Introduction . Osmosis is the movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration through a partially permeable membrane. Osmosis will occur until there is equilibrium between the external and internal environment. A sucrose solution is made up with sugar and water, adding different masses of sugar to separate beakers of water will make different concentration of a sucrose solution. When the sugar does not dissolve anymore, saturation point has been reached. Rasemus sp or the raisin is a dried version of the Grape. The grape has been dehydrated to form the raisin, therefore the raisin is very concentrated in sugar to start off with. Hypothesis; The increased mass of the raisin is independent of osmosis. Prediction The mass of the raisin will be heavier when retrieved from less concentrated sucrose solution; than those retrieved from solution of higher concentration. This is the case as, previously stated the raisin has a high sugar concentration to start of with. By immersing it in a solution of low sucrose concentration, will cause water to enter the cells of the raisin in order to reach an equilibrium between the internal environment and external environment of the raisin. Therefore after a given amount of time, the raisins which were from a lower sucrose concentration will have taken up the most water and therefore have the most increased mass. For the raisins immersed in higher concentrated solutions the raisins mass will not change significantly. As there wouldnt be as much uptake of water via osmosis. Variables The increasing sucrose solutions. Dependant The mass increase of the raisins. Controlled

The volume of solution in each beaker

Through using a measuring cylinder or beaker with a scale on the side. This has to be controlled because if there is more of a solution in comparison to that of maybe a higher or lower concentration or even a repeat, the ration of water available for use in osmosis is altered and gives inaccurate and unreliable results. The temperature can alter the rate at which molecules move, so as this experiment is under timed conditions, arranging beakers in different temperatures could make the result less reliable as a raisin in a warmer area could have taken up more water that that in a cooler area. To control the temperature all the beakers should be placed together in the same area or done at similar times in the same area, using solutions of the same temperature-they can be measured by a thermometer. Grapes alternate in sugar concentration depending on their species. Therefore this would be the same case as the raisin depending on which grapes they derived from. So using raisins of different species could mean unreliable results. This is because some species would take up more water through osmosis than those of a higher sugar concentration. The sugar concentration would not be able to be accurately measured unless using more technical equipment than the benedicts test. This is because the raisin sugar concentrations would not differ enough for simple tests to be done. Normally if taken from the same bag these can be controlled reliably. This will be controlled with a stopwatch. If raisins are left in for different times the mass difference of the raisin will not be reliable as osmosis has had more time to take place in some of the raisins than others, meaning some of the raisins will be unfairly heavier due to the increased time to uptake water. Due to human hand eye, error the time will be +- 0.5 second error. This is an uncertainty of time correctness.

The temperature

The type of raisins

Time

Equipment 1M, 2M, 3M sucrose solutions 3 beakers Clock/stopwatch Raisins Weighing scale Forceps

Thermometer Measuring cylinder Method 1. Prepare a 1M 2M and 3M sucrose solutions (through the use of moles method), label and pour 10ml into three small beakers. Place a thermometer in each and leave for two minutes to check the temperature as a controlled variable. 2. Create a table with three columns, one labelled beginning, end, difference-.putting the units grams in the top of each column. Make this table with at least six rows, two rows are for each sucrose solution. 3. Weigh the raisins one at a time place two in each beaker, remembering to record the mass of each raisin. To remember which raisin is which in each beaker, write L on one side of the beaker and R on the other, using the forceps place the raisins next to the letters in the solution. There should be two raisins in each solution, six in total. Start the stop watch. 4. Leave the raisins for twenty minutes in the solutions, then remove the raisins from the solutions using forceps. Weigh and record the results. 5. In Order to get reliable results repeat steps One to three another five times renewing the sucrose solution each time. This is so that ten raisins have been examined for each solution, so that a mean can be calculated. Any errors can be identified from repeats as well. 6. Once finished the repeats and calculated the mean mass differences, record the results in a form of a line graph. precautions

Use the forceps to pick up the raisins not your fingers, your fingers may force out the water. Keep the beakers in an area where they wont be knocked over. Keep an eye on the beakers Make sure the sucrose solutions are renewed after every new set of raisins are put in. Make sure the raisins are placed in each solution two minutes apart from each pair. To create a set of reliable results which all have the same times. The stop watch will have a delay due to human error therefore the table drawn must have an error of +- 0.5 seconds/