Lab: The Effects Of Osmosis And Cellular Diffusion

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Carrot Lab

Abstract: In this lab, carrots were placed in sugar solutions of varying sugar concentrations. The effects of osmosis and cellular diffusion are going to be observed as the carrots gain or lose weight in the solutions over the period of time. The weights of the carrots will be measured after 30 min, and again after 24 hrs. The purpose of this lab is to find out how the cells in carrots will react to various sugar concentrations. The idea is that the cells will absorb the water and become heavier and supple.

Introduction: One of the most common types of passive transport of materials is called diffusion (Ward’s Natural Science). Another common type of transport is osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water through a cell membrane. …show more content…

Because of how much water the carrots should absorb, they will increase in mass because the cells will be full of the water.

Materials: 6 baby carrots, identical
6 sugar solutions
Timer
Beakers
Scale
Sugar and Distilled Water
Marker Dye

Variables: In this lab, the independent variable is the sugar concentration. The dependent variables are the weights of the carrots. The controlled variables would be the amount of water, the temperature in the room, carrot size, the time the carrots are in the solutions, etc. The experimental groups are the varying sugar solutions. The control group is the carrot is the distilled water.

Procedure:
Put 1 carrot in each solution.
Wait 30 min.
Record the weight of the carrot and see if anything changes.
Leave the carrots in the solution for 24 hrs.
Record observations. Did the carrot’s mass change at all?

Observations and Data:
Table 1. Carrot weights Before and After Soaking in Sugar Solutions.

Sugar Concentration (M)
Carrot Weight (g)
Before
After 30 min
After 24 hr
1.0 (A)
12.2
12.2 …show more content…

The hypothesis tested was rejected. It stated that all the carrots would increase in weight. Not all of the carrots increased in mass. Some of them actually lost weight, in fact (cups A, B, and C). The carrots that lost weight were in a hypertonic solution (there were more molecules outside of the cells), or the carrots in the highest sugar concentration. The water moved out of the cell because of osmosis. Only water moves through the membrane, not sugar particles because they are too big (not permeable to the membrane) (Baker, et. al., 2012). The solution that had a low concentration of sugar was a hypotonic solution. The carrot gained mass because water moved in the cells to dilute the solutes (cup D). Cups E and F were isotonic solutions. There was no net movement of water because there was equal amounts on both sides of the

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