Paige Yates

Mrs. Cowan
Biology Honors (1)
October 8, 2013
The Change in the Mass of Potatoes in Different Types of Solution
SummaryIn this lab, we are exploring the mass of potatoes and the change in the mass after being
out into different solutions. The solutions will have different amounts of sugar in water. We are
attempting to answer the following questions.

How does sugar in a water solution affect the mass of potatoes?

How do the potatoes respond to the sugar solutions?

This lab is required to be continued overnight as the potatoes sit.

IntroductionThe purpose of this lab is to investigate how different sugar and water solutions affect the
mass of potatoes. If the mass is changed, find out if mass was lost or gained. In this lab, we will
explore how sugar affects the mass of potatoes.
It is necessary to understand some terms of science before entering this lab investigation.
To understand how water moves through potatoes, one must understand osmosis. Osmosis is the
diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane. The water moves from high to low
concentration. In this case, that membrane is the potatoes. Diffusion also occurs during this lab.
Diffusion is the movement of substances through a selectively permeable membrane. Diffusion
also moves from high to low concentration. In this lab, sugar will be diffusing through potatoes.
Osmosis and diffusion occur the help an object maintain a balance. The process the potatoes will
be going through to balance substances in the potato is called homeostasis.
A hypothesis is an educated guess about the results in an experiment. In this lab, my
group hypothesized how we though sugar water would affect the mass of potatoes. Our
hypothesis was that as the percentage of sucrose (sugar) in the water increases, the mass of the
potatoes will decrease.

Methods and Materials

For this lab, we used the following materials. We used potatoes, a French fry maker, a
potato peeler, small cups, a balance, water, sugar solutions, and paper towels.
In order for my group to complete this lab, we went through a series of intricate steps. We
peeled a potato and used the French fry maker to cut out 10 potato chunks. Then, we prepared to
put 2 potato pieces into 5 different cups labeled water, 7%, 14%, 21%, and 28%. Each
cup was filled with the proper percentage of sucrose in the water. Before placing the potatoes in
the cups, we took the mass of the sets of potato pieces. We were careful to zero out the balance
before taking the mass of the potatoes. We recorded the data into the proper information charts.
After placing the potatoes in the correct solutions, we allowed the potatoes to sit for 24 hours at
room temperature. After removing the potatoes from the water and blotting them dry, we took the
balance of the potages again and recorded that information into the appropriate data charts. We
calculated the change in the initial mass of the potatoes and the final mass using simple
subtraction. Lastly, we calculated the percentage change of the potatoes by using the following
equation. [(final mass-initial mass)/initial mass] x 100
Data/Results

Solution Type and Change in Mass Of Potatoes

Water

7%

14%

21%

28%

Beginning
Mass
Final
Mass

7.6 grams

10.51 grams

7.99 grams

10.35 grams

11.87 grams

9.37 grams

10.79 grams

6.84 grams

7.72 grams

7.97 grams

Loss/Gain

+1.77 grams

+.28 grams

-1.15 grams

-2.63 grams

-3.90 grams

From looking at the data chart and bar graph, my group could create some visual interpretations
and patterns. By looking at the bar chart, my group was able to see how lower sugar solutions
(water and 7%) caused the potatoes to gain mass; but as the sugar solution increased in
percentage, the potatoes lost mass increasingly. By observing the bar chart, my group also
concluded that there was essentially a solution percentage where the potatoes neither lost, nor
gained mass. This point is called the equilibrium. The equilibrium is difficult to pinpoint
precisely, but my group concluded that the equilibrium of this experiment was between 7%-14%,
approximately 8.5%.
Discussion/Conclusion
After completing this experiment and analyzing the results, my group concluded several
observations about how sugar affects the mass of potatoes after being placed into a sugar
solution. From the data, my group collected an idea about what lower sugar percentage solutions
and higher sugar percentage solutions do to the mass of potatoes. We concluded that potatoes
placed in a sugar solution will gain mass between 0% sugar solution (water) to around 8.5%
sugar solution (equilibrium estimate.) Past the equilibrium, potatoes will lose mass after sitting in
a sugar and water based solution with high sugar content. The observations we made after
analysis of the experiment allowed my group to understand how osmosis and diffusion work in
materials in a better way. We concluded that when a potato gains mass, the cells in a potato
would swell. When a potato loses mass, the potato cells shrink. My group began to understand
the meaning behind these cells shrinking and swelling by looking at the process of osmosis.
(These explanations are explained better in the pictures below.)

My group concluded that when a cell shrinks, that means that the water inside the cell has
a higher concentration than outside of the cell so the materials exit the cell. We also concluded
that when a cell gains mass, the reason for this happening is because the water outside of the cell
had a higher concentration than inside the cell; so the materials enter the cell. My group
compared if each solution was hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic based off of the cells
characteristics. The group concluded that every time the potato would lose mass, the solution
was hypertonic. We concluded that this meant that the water concentration insides the cell was
higher than outside the cell. We also concluded that a solution was hypotonic if the potato gained
mass. This means that the water concentration outside of the cell is higher than inside the cell.
Finally, my group concluded that if the potato neither gained nor lost mass, at the
equilibrium, the solution was isotonic. This meant that the water concentration inside and outside
of the cell was equivalent. My group used the characteristic processes of osmosis to determine if
a solution was isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic.
The hypothesis my group initially made was supported by the data. The data showed a
pattern of potato mass being lost as the sucrose percentage was increased. The data also showed
a pattern that our hypothesis did not include. The data patterns show that the potatoes will gain
mass at lower sucrose levels and then the mass would begin to drop as the percentage of sucrose
increased.
My group got the results that we did from analyzing the characteristics of osmosis and
diffusion on the mass of potatoes. This is explained in the pictures above. This experiment could
have been affected by the possibility of errors. My group could have made errors when taking the
mass of the potatoes. This would have been the only large error that was possible.