Osmosis Experiment On Potatoes

By: Angelina Sutanto Bolang

Introduction

Osmosis is simply the movement of molecules through a semipermeable

membrane from a higher concentration of water to a lower concentration of water.
Osmosis can be performed in real life only with a few materials and an experiment
that can be easily done. This experiment can be done with water, potatoes, beakers,
salt, scale, knife, graduated cylinder and a stirring rod. When two pieces of potato is
dropped into beakers, one filled with fresh water and the other filled with salt water,
the potato will have changes in size. The potato in the salt water will decrease its size
and the potato in the fresh water will enlarge. Why? Potatoes contain water inside of
it, which makes the potato inside the salt water is hypertonic and the salt water is
hypotonic. The salt water is hypotonic because when water is mixed with salt, the
components are not only h20 anymore but it becomes h20 and Na+ (salt). This means
there are less h2o in the salt water than the amount of h2o in the potato. Meanwhile,
the potato in the fresh water is hypotonic and the water itself is hypertonic because
there water is purely just contains h2o. The h2o in the potato in salt water would want
to leave because there are less h2o outside causing the potato to shrink. Different than
the potato in the freshwater, the h2o from the fresh water would want to go inside the
potato causing the potato to enlarge.

Procedure

Materials:
-

2 Beakers
300 ml of Water
5 teaspoons of Salt
A Potato
Stirring Rod
Timer
Scale
Graduated Cylinder
Knife

Independent Variable: Potato & Water.

Dependent Variable: Salt.

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Using a knife cut the potato into .

Scale the potato and make sure two pieces are the same weight.
Measure 150 ml of water using a graduated cylinder.
Pour 150 ml of water into each beaker.
Pour 5 teaspoons of salt into one of the beakers and mix with a stirring rod.
Set timer for 1 hour without starting it yet.
Place a potato into each beaker at once and start the timer as soon as the potato

hits the water.

8. After an hour, drain the water back into the graduated cylinder and measure
the water. Do this step for both freshwater and salt water separately.
9. Scale the potato separately after the water has been drained.
10. Analyze the differences that happened to the potato and the water.

Data Table
Before

Salt Water
Mass of potato: 4g

Fresh Water
Mass of potato: 4g

After

Amount of water: 150 ml

Mass of potato: 2g

Amount of water: 150 ml

Mass of potato: 3.5g

Amount of water: 168 ml

Amount of water: 148 ml

The biggest changes happened with the salt water solution. The potato in the
salt water lost 2g of weight and the quantity of the water increased by 18 ml.
Meanwhile, the potato in the fresh water decreased its weight by 0.5 g. The water also
decreased by 2 ml. Although, the changes in the fresh water wasnt as noticeable as
the salt water.

Results
One part of the hypothesis has been proven that the potato in salt water did
shrunk by 2g because the h2o from inside went outside. It was predicted that the
potato in fresh water is going to enlarge by size. The potato in the fresh water had a
decreased in weight by 0.5g. Although the changes in the amount of water after the
experiment was not predicted in the hypothesis. The salt water increased by 18 ml and
the fresh water decreased by 2 ml.

It can be concluded that the potatoes has changed in sizes because the water
form it went outside. Although, the potato in the fresh water didnt really change a lot
in size because both the fresh water and the potato contains a large amount of h2o,
which makes the h2o cycling going in and out. Different form the potato in the salt
water. When the two potatoes were compared side by side, there were a major
difference in terms of size and texture. The potato from the fresh water felt a lot
denser and did not feel that much of a difference as before. Although, the potato from
the salt water felt softer and smoother. The experiment shows how osmosis can be
interpreted with stuff around use, for example a potato.