Osmosis in Eggs
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to understand the effects of osmosis on eggs when the eggs are submerged in in a variety of substances with different sugar concentrations.
Hypothesis
If osmosis across a selectively permeable membrane is related to the sugar concentration of the substance the egg is submerged in, then the egg submerged in corn syrup will become heavier as a result of osmosis.
Materials
Procedure
Discussion
In my hypothesis is stated that the corn syrup would make the egg swell. My hypothesis was proven incorrect an the egg shrunk. this is because water left the egg to balance the concentration of sugars on each side of the egg.
All the variables were considered when conduction this experiment, when the eggs were submerged in the liquids they remained in the same place for the duration of the 24 hours. All the beakers were also labeled to avoid confusion. Also, all the eggs were carefully handled so they did not become broken.
In this experiment the independent variable was the was the substance the egg was put in (aside from the vinegar) and the dependent variable was the appearance and weight of the egg.
The egg acted very differently in all the substances I put it in, for one the egg in the corn syrup shrank substantially, this is because the water from inside the egg moved outwards to equal the concentration of water on both sides of the membrane. In the other 2 mixtures the egg did not change quite as much at the one submerged in corn syrup, although the inside of the egg that had been soaked in food dye did have a bit of green color to it. This observation proves that although the shape of the egg did not change substantially, water did move through the permeable membrane or else there would have been no food coloring on the inside of the egg.
Overall this experiment was successful as it proved that osmosis does affect eggs and it shows that water does move through a selectively permeable membrane. I would not change much in this experiment,, although i would have liked to test one more substance (though i couldn't because i gave away one of my eggs to another group). if I repeated this project i might let the egg sit in the solution for a few more days to see if the water concentrations continued to change. To sum up this was an interesting and informative project.
Conclusion
overall this project was a success, it demonstrated how osmosis makes water move to equalize concentration and that an the innermost part of an eggshell is a selectively permeable membrane. This experiment demonstrated the flow of water through a membrane because the size of the egg changed, indicating that water moved and some of the colored water from one of the beakers was present on the inside of the egg as well. In the end my hypothesis was not supported because the egg submerged in corn syrup shrank when i believed it was going to grow. The egg changed sizes substantially, in the beginning the egg was 54.6 grams and in the end it was a mere 36, this is because the corn syrup has a lower concentration of of water that the inside of the egg. in other words, the independent variable severely impacted the dependent variable.
Data and Results
The purpose of this experiment is to understand the effects of osmosis on eggs when the eggs are submerged in in a variety of substances with different sugar concentrations.
Hypothesis
If osmosis across a selectively permeable membrane is related to the sugar concentration of the substance the egg is submerged in, then the egg submerged in corn syrup will become heavier as a result of osmosis.
Materials
- 3 eggs (we originally had 4 but gave one to another group because 2 of theirs broke)
- White vinegar
- 4 - 250 mL beakers
- 150 mL of plain water
- 150 mL of water with 2-3 drops of food dye added
- 150 mL of corn syrup
- Digital scale
Procedure
- place the 3 eggs in separate beakers and add 150 mL of white vinegar
- allow the eggs to sit in the vinegar solution for 24 hours
- after the 24 hours, remove the egg from the solution carefully, observe the egg and record your observations.
- Using the digital scale, measure the weight of the egg. Record the weight.
- pour 150 mL of plain water, water with food coloring and corn syrup into beakers. label each beaker. record the volume of water in each beaker.
- place egg one into the beaker with plain water, egg 2 into the beaker with water and food coloring, and egg 3 into the beaker with corn syrup.
- let the solution sit for 24 hours.
- after 24 hours carefully remove the egg from the solution. Observe the appearance of the egg and record it. Next measure the mass of each egg and record that too
- measure the volume of water left in the beaker and record.
- using a toothpick carefully pop the egg membrane and record the observation of what the egg looks like on the inside.
Discussion
In my hypothesis is stated that the corn syrup would make the egg swell. My hypothesis was proven incorrect an the egg shrunk. this is because water left the egg to balance the concentration of sugars on each side of the egg.
All the variables were considered when conduction this experiment, when the eggs were submerged in the liquids they remained in the same place for the duration of the 24 hours. All the beakers were also labeled to avoid confusion. Also, all the eggs were carefully handled so they did not become broken.
In this experiment the independent variable was the was the substance the egg was put in (aside from the vinegar) and the dependent variable was the appearance and weight of the egg.
The egg acted very differently in all the substances I put it in, for one the egg in the corn syrup shrank substantially, this is because the water from inside the egg moved outwards to equal the concentration of water on both sides of the membrane. In the other 2 mixtures the egg did not change quite as much at the one submerged in corn syrup, although the inside of the egg that had been soaked in food dye did have a bit of green color to it. This observation proves that although the shape of the egg did not change substantially, water did move through the permeable membrane or else there would have been no food coloring on the inside of the egg.
Overall this experiment was successful as it proved that osmosis does affect eggs and it shows that water does move through a selectively permeable membrane. I would not change much in this experiment,, although i would have liked to test one more substance (though i couldn't because i gave away one of my eggs to another group). if I repeated this project i might let the egg sit in the solution for a few more days to see if the water concentrations continued to change. To sum up this was an interesting and informative project.
Conclusion
overall this project was a success, it demonstrated how osmosis makes water move to equalize concentration and that an the innermost part of an eggshell is a selectively permeable membrane. This experiment demonstrated the flow of water through a membrane because the size of the egg changed, indicating that water moved and some of the colored water from one of the beakers was present on the inside of the egg as well. In the end my hypothesis was not supported because the egg submerged in corn syrup shrank when i believed it was going to grow. The egg changed sizes substantially, in the beginning the egg was 54.6 grams and in the end it was a mere 36, this is because the corn syrup has a lower concentration of of water that the inside of the egg. in other words, the independent variable severely impacted the dependent variable.
Data and Results