Estrada 1

Jose Estrada
Mrs. Somer
Biology / Period 7
2 April 2014
Investigation the Process of Osmosis
Background:
1.

An egg is an example of a single cell that can be seen without the aid of a microscope

because if fertilized it will grow into a developing chick.

2.

Diffusion is the movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to low

concentration.
3.

Osmosis is the movement of water from an area of high concentration to low

concentration.
4.

The goal of diffusion and osmosis is equilibrium.

5.

In isotonic solution the concentration of water inside the cell is equal to the concentration

of water outside the cell.

6.

In a hypertonic solution the concentration of water inside the cell is greater than the

concentration of water outside the cell.

7.

In a hypotonic solution the concentration of water inside the cell is less than the

concentration of water outside the cell.

Procedure:
In this lab you will be using a chicken egg to represent a single cell. Your first step will
be to dissolve the shell surrounding the RAW egg by soaking the RAW egg in vinegar overnight.
The acidity in the vinegar solution will slowly dissolve the shell surrounding the RAW egg. Once
the shell has been dissolved; you will be left with a perfect example of a single cell surrounded
by a cell membrane. We can use our chicken egg a single cell to investigate the properties of the
cell membrane and the process of osmosis. Your next step will be to experiment with your single
cell egg. Each lab group will receive 2 RAW eggs with the shell dissolved. You will place 1 egg
in pure water and the 2nd egg in thick syrup. It will be your job to hypothesis what will happen to
the mass of your egg? Do you hypothesize that the egg will increase or decrease in mass?
Dependent Variable:
The dependent variable in this experiment is soaking the egg in pure water and syrup.
Independent Variable:

Estrada 2
The independent variable is the mass of the egg.
Hypothesis 1:
The egg which is soaked in pure water for 48 hours will stay the same mass. The egg soaked in
thick syrup for 48 hours will increase in mass.
Data Table:

Eggs

Day 2

Day 3

Soaked in Water

88g.

95g.

Soaked in Syrup

82.5g

44.3

Result:
The mass of the eggs changed drastically. The egg soaked in water with the mass of 88g on Day
2 increased to 95g on Day 3. The egg soaked in thick syrup decreased from 82.5g on Day 2 to
44.3 g on Day 3.