Rudy Swalem

Question: How does the concentration of sucrose affect the amount of liquid absorbed by
the potato?
Hypothesis: I think that the way the water moves is dependent on how much water
molecules are in the potato. Meaning that if the water concentration in the potato is higher
in the solution then the water molecule will move into the sucrose solution, causing a
decrease in the potato's mass. And if the concentration of water molecules is lower in the
potato than the solution, then the particles will move into the potato causing the mass to
increase.
Variables:
Independent- The concentration of the Sucrose Solution
Dependant- Weight change of the potato after osmosis
Apparatus:

Weighing Scale
Ruler
Borer (Corer)
Distilled Water
0.1 to 0.5 mole of Sucrose concentration
Pipette
Labels
Potato
Tile
6 Sample tubes
Tissues
Stop Watch

0.9cm

Method:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Place the ready cut potato on the tile.

Using a 0.9cm diameter borer, carefully cut 6 equally sized cylinders of potato.
Measure each piece, making sure it consists of a 1.5cm length and a 0.9cm width.
Using a weighing scale, measure the weight of potato A.
Then wipe off the potato liquid on the scale using a tissue.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the rest of the 6 potato cylinders.
Place each potato in an individual empty sample tube.
Label each tube from A-F.
Using a Pipette, measure 3cm3 of the solution and pour into test tube. The table below
shows what solution goes into each test tube.
Test Tube
Solution
A

Distilled Water

B
C
D

0.1m Sucrose
0.2m Sucrose
0.3m Sucrose

1.5cm

Rudy Swalem

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

0.4m Sucrose

0.5m Sucrose

After all solutions are poured into the sample tubes, start the timer.
Wait a minimum of 1 hour for the osmosis to happen.
When collecting data, take out all the cylindrical potatoes from the tubes.
Using a paper towel, carefully blot the potatoes dry.
One by one, measure the mass of the potato.
Make sure to wipe of all the excess water on scale between measurements.
Record data.

Results Table
Solution
Water
0.1m Sucrose
0.2m Sucrose
0.3m Sucrose
0.4m Sucrose
0.5m Sucrose

Graph:

Initial Mass of
Potato (g)
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9

Final Mass of
Potato(g)
1.1
1.01
0.91
0.76
0.73
0.68

Difference
in Mass
0.2
0.11
0.01
-0.14
-0.17
-0.22

Rudy Swalem
ConclusionAfter collecting the
results I realized my hypothesis was correct, this was because the rate of osmosis was
affected by how much sucrose/H2O molecule concentration was in each solution. As shown
in graph, the potato's initial mass had actually increased when soaked in the distilled water,
0.1 and 0.2 mole solutions. I believe that it is due to the concentration of water molecules
being higher outside the potato than inside, making the particles travel from the solution
(higher concentration of water) to the potato (lower concentration of water). The results
then started taking a turn at 0.3 moles of sucrose, this was because potatoes consisted of a
water concentration higher than the concentration in the solution. So, the particles moved
from the potato (higher concentration of water) to the solution (lower concentration of
water), causing a decrease in the potato's mass.
Evaluation-The experiment produced a reasonably clear result however there were many
sourced of errors which we believe made the results unreliable. These sources of error
included;
1-The temperature was not kept the same throughout the
experiment as it wasnt controlled
2- We didnt rinse out the sample tubes before using them.
3- The size of the potatoes lacked some precision, though we used a borer, the potato
source was not equally leveled
4- Some potatoes were placed in tubes with solution quicker than other ones (e.g. potato A
was placed in tube with solution earlier than potato B)
The experiment should have been conducted in a locked room so that the opening and
closing of the door is kept to minimum, in this way we will be better able to control the
temperature in future experiments. Before conducting the experiment we should have
rinsed out all the sample tubes and all the pipettes and let them dry, this would have made
our experiment more reliable as It removes any unwanted substance from the tubes. If we
had followed this step during the procedure, we would have been able to control the
substance in the tubes.
We had developed a standardized method for measuring the sucrose solutions, however we
were assigned to measure with equipment we werent used to using. Many of us were still
beginners at using a pipette and at the beginning of the experiment there were many
inaccuracies in measurement, thus lowering the precision of our data set. Perhaps our
precision would have been higher if we had practiced using the equipment before
conducting the actual experiment.
Finally, the sizes of our potatoes were to be controlled throughout the experiment. Though
we tried, it was hard getting the source potato to be equally surfaced, meaning that when
we used the borer to cut out the potatoes, some potatoes were still higher than other
potatoes. If we had an equally surfaced source potato, then the sizes of the cylindrical
potatoes would have been more controlled, thus increasing the precision of out experiment.
Overall, our precision would have been higher if we had worked on fixing the errors above. It
would also be a good idea to repeat the experiment to give us average results rather than to
only conduct one experiment and make conclusions based on this one time.

Rudy Swalem
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