Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Lab
By: Albert Brotgandel, Auna Tepper, and Cherry
Lawrence
Research Question:
How is the surface area to volume ratio related to the
ability of a cell to move the necessary amount of
materials in and out of the cell.
Hypothesis:
If the surface area to volume ratio of cells is important to
moving materials in and out of a cell, then smaller cells
will be able to move more material in and out because of
the greater amount of surface area per unit of volume
available to them. This will be true regardless of the
tonicity of the liquid it is submerged in.
Research Question and Hypothesis
Materials
1. Cork borer (1.0 cm
diameter)
2. Cork borer (0.25 cm
diameter)
3. Potato ()
4. Salt (11.8 g)
5. Distilled water (400
mL)

6. Beaker
7. Graduated cylinder
8. Plastic cups (4)
9. Ruler
10. Scale
11. Apron
12. Goggles
13. Stirring rod
Procedure
1. Use the 1.0 cm cork borer to cut two
cylinders from the potato.
2. Use the 0.25 cm cork borer to cut two
cylinders from the potato.
3. Pour 30 mL of tap water into the graduated
cylinder.
4. Measure and record the volume of each of
the potato cylinders by dropping them into the
tap water in the graduated cylinder and
subtracting the new volume of the contents
from the old one.
5. Measure and record the surface area of each
potato cylinder using the ruler and the
following formula: SA=2r^2 + 2rh
6. Measure and record the mass of the potato
cylinders using the scale.
7. Pour 100 mL of distilled water into 4 plastic
cups and label two of them saltwater and the
other two water.
8. Add and stir in 5.9 g of salt into both of the
cups labelled saltwater to create solutions
with a molarity of 1.
9. Put one of the 1.0 cm diameter potatoes into
one of cups labelled saltwater and one
labelled water.
10. Put one of the 0.25 cm diameter potatoes
into one of the empty cups labelled saltwater
and one labelled water.
11. Leave the cups in a safe place for 24 hours.
12. Remove the cylinders from the cups and
weigh the cylinders with the scale. Record the
new masses.


Solution Cylinder
Volume
(mL)
Surface
Area
(cm
2
)
Surface
Area to
Volume
Ratio
(cm
2
/mL)
Starting
Mass (g)
Ending
Mass (g)
Percent
Change
in Mass
Distilled
Water
1.0 cm
Diameter
2.1 10.99 5.2:1 1.7 2.5 47%
Distilled
Water
0.25 cm
Diameter
0.6 5.10 8.5:1 0.4 0.7 75%
Saltwater
(1 M)
1.0 cm
Diameter
1.5 10.95 7.3:1 1.9 1.4 -26%
Saltwater
(1 M)
0.25 cm
Diameter
0.5 5.08 10.2:1 0.4 0.3 -25%
Chart
In this experiment, the smaller potato cylinder in
distilled water was able to absorb a significantly larger
percentage of its mass than the larger potato in distilled
water. There was next to no difference between the
percentages of mass absorbed by the different sizes of
potatoes in the 1 M saltwater. This does not match our
hypothesis or accepted science. This may have occurred
because of the fact that although the potato cylinders
were the same shape but different sizes, the difference in
their sizes was not large enough to create a noticeable
difference.
Conclusion/Evaluation
We also may have not been as careful as we should have
been about making sure that the potato cylinders were
completely dry when weighing them. This could have
made our measurements of ending mass include the mass
of water droplets on the surface of the slices. If we were
to do this experiment again, we would include a drying
time between the time we remove the potatoes and the
time we weigh them. It is also possible that the
difference in tonicity between the inside of the potatoes
and the liquid they were in was not large enough for
significant movement of material.
Conclusion/Evaluation cont.
Potatoes tend to have a molarity of ~0.2 and our
saltwater solution had a molarity of 0 so the difference
between them may have been too small to create
significant movement across a concentration gradient.
Potatoes are generally 10-15% starch. Starch cannot
diffuse because of its size and insolubility. This would
create a sizable portion of the potato that would not
diffuse. Although it likely did not play a large role in our
results, it was an interesting fact that I felt was good to
include in my presentation.
Conclusion/Evaluation cont. cont.
The Textbook
Mader, Sylvia S. Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.
Potato Website of the Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "Nutrient Composition of the Potato: Interesting Varieties from
Human Nutrition Perspective." (2008): 1. Www.fao.org. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2008.
Web. 21 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/food_composition/documents/upload/Poster_potato_nutrient_comp.pdf>.




Sources