IA: Osmosis in Potatoes – Analysis and Evaluation

By Shirin Naidu

−1
Research Question: How does changing the solute (sugar) concentration (0.2 mol 𝐿 , 0.4

−1 −1 −1
mol 𝐿 , 0.6 mol 𝐿 , 0.8 mol 𝐿 ) affect osmosis in potato pieces, measured by a

change in mass (g)?

Hypothesis:

Null: If the sugar concentration in the solution increases, then there is no significant

difference between the concentration of sugar and mass of potato.

Alternate: If the sugar concentration in the solution increases, then the potato pieces will

experience osmosis, resulting in a change in mass.

Analysis

Table 1: Raw Data (Quantitative)

Table 1 demonstrates the effect on the mass of potato discs (± 0.01 g) before and after being

submerged in various concentrations of sugar solutions for approximately 3 hours.

Table 2: Processed Data (Quantitative)

Table 2 demonstrates the percentage change in mass, from the initial mass of the potato disc

to its final mass, which was taken after 3 hours of being submersed in the sugar solution. For

this lab, the data collected was processed by first, calculating the percentage change in mass.

In order to calculate this, I first found the difference in mass by subtracting the initial value

from the final value. Then, to calculate the percentage change in mass, I divided the mass

difference by the initial mass value.

Sample Calculation:

Next, I calculated the mean of the data, to determine the average percentage change in mass

that the potato disc experienced after being submerged in the solutions of various sugar
concentrations for approximately 3 hours. This helped consolidate the data, by finding the

average of the three trials that were conducted for all five different dilutions of sugar

solutions. Then, I calculated the standard deviation, this is a measure of how dispersed the

data recorded was in relation to the mean, which I had calculated just prior to this. However,

due to the limited number of trials conducted for each sugar solution, the standard deviation

may prove to have less relevance to the overall data.

Sample Calculation:

Graph 1: Mean Mass (g) of Potato Discs Before and After Submersion in Sugar Solutions
Graph 1 is a bar graph depicting the mean mass of the potato discs, before and after

submersion in the sugar solutions. The blue bars represent the initial mass of each potato disc

before submersion. The recordings of the initial mass of each potato disc itself display

fluctuations in the data, demonstrating human error. One human error that likely occurred

during the lab that contributed to the fluctuations in the data is, lack of precision while cutting

the potato discs, leading to differences in size and mass of each potato disc. The general trend

of the data can be seen from the 0.4 concentration to the 0.8 concentration, in which the final

mass begins to decrease more as the concentration of sugar in the solution increases. When

observing the orange bars (final mass) separately, a general trend throughout the graph, from

the distilled water (0 mol L^-1) to the 0.8 concentration, demonstrates a downward trend in

mass. On the other hand, the blue bars (initial mass) do not have a clear trend when observed

separately from the final mass. Altogether the graph depicts a negative correlation between

initial mass and final mass, in which the mass of the potato disc decreases as the

concentration of sugar increases.

Graph 2: Mean Percentage Change in Mass After Submersion in Sugar Solution

Graph 2 illustrates the mean percentage change in mass after submersion in sugar solution for

three hours, this is depicted in the form of a bar graph with a linear trendline to demonstrate

the downward trend of the values. For all three trials that were taken to measure the mass of

the discs before and after being submerged in distilled water and the first two trials taken of

the discs in the solution of 0.2 concentration, the results demonstrated an increase in mass.

However, the third trial of the 0.2 mol L^-1 concentrated solution onwards, demonstrated that

the increase in sugar concentration led to a reduction in mass. As seen in the average change

in mass of the 0.8 mol L^-1 concentrated solution, the mass of the original disc decreased by

approximately 28.44% after being submerged in the solution. On the other hand, the mass of

the disc that was placed in the distilled water, increased by approximately 11.67%.

Table 3: Qualitative Data (Observations)

Initial Observations Final Observations (After 3 hour of

submersion in solution)

Before being soaked in the concentrated After 3 hours of submersion in the different
solutions, the potato discs were only concentrations of solution, the potato discs
exposed to water, which functioned to that were placed in the sugar solutions of
maintain turgidity within the potato cells. the concentrations 0.6 mol L^-1 and 0.8 mol
 Essentially, before submersion, the potato
discs were firm to touch.
L^-1 were soft to touch and less tough then
how the discs were initially. In other words,
the discs became flaccid after being
submerged in a solution of increased sugar
concentration.

Evaluation

Conclusion: The purpose of this experiment was to investigate how changing the solute

(sugar) concentration would affect osmosis in potato pieces, measured by a change in mass

(g). After conducting this experiment and observing patterns in both the quantitative and

qualitative data, it can be gathered that changing the solute concentration in a solution does

affect osmosis in potato pieces, this can be observed through a change in mass. The

hypothesis formulated prior to carrying out this experiment stated that an increase in the

sugar concentration of the solution would cause the potato pieces to experience osmosis,

thereby resulting in a change in mass. The results of the experiment generally support this

hypothesis. However, there were a few anomalies in the experiment such as the results

derived from the first two trials of the 0.2 mol L^-1 concentration, which showed that there

was an increase in mass. Other than this, the rest of the data demonstrated that as the solution

becomes hypertonic, or in other words more concentrated with sugar, the mass of the potato

disc will decrease because when any type of cells are placed in a hypertonic solution, water

moves out of the cell, causing the cell to shrink.

Table 4: Limitations and possible improvements for this lab (Evaluation of errors)

Errors in the Methodology Explanation Improvement

The total duration that the
discs were left submerged in
the solutions.
The experiment originally
stated that all potato discs
should be left in the
solutions for at least 12
hours. However as this
When conducting this
experiment again in the
future, ensure that the discs
are submerged in the
solutions for the full

The size of the potato discs
Weighing the final mass of
the potato discs
Lack of temperature control
Small number of trials
experiment was conducted
under time constraints, the
potato discs were only left in
the different solutions for
approximately 3 hours.
Fluctuations in the initial
mass of the discs recorded in
the data table were most
likely due to lack of
precision while cutting the
potato discs. Discs were cut
very hastily due to time
constraints and additionally
were not cut in reference to
specific measurements or
markings.
While recording the final
mass of the potato discs,
some of the discs may have
been left in the solution for
5-10 minutes longer than the
others, which may have had
an effect on the precision of
the data.
The biology lab in which
this experiment was
conducted could have
possibly had drops and
increases in temperature
throughout the method of
the experiment, during the
waiting time as well as when
the final results were
recorded. These fluctuations
in temperature could have
affected the results as
increases in temperature
increase the speed in which
water molecules move
across the semipermeable
membrane.
Only three trials were
conducted for each of the
five solutions, meaning that
duration, in order to observe
the full effect of the different
concentrations of sugar
solutions on the mass of the
potato, thereby osmosis.
When conducting this
experiment in the future,
using equipment such as a
vernier calliper would help
to make the size and mass of
the potato discs more
precise.
Work in a larger group,
while weighing the final
mass the different test tubes
of potato discs can be
assigned to different people
with separate weighing
scales so that the entire
process of noting down the
final mass is less time
consuming.
When conducting this
experiment in the future,
ensure that the lab that it is
being conducted in has a
thermostat and that the
temperature is set and kept
constant throughout the
experiment. This will ensure
more precision and allow
osmosis to occur at the same
rate.
This would allow for more
accurate statistics,
specifically when finding a
 the data collected is very general trend in data as well
limited. In addition, due to as the standard deviation.
the other numerous errors
that may have occurred
during the lab, the small
number of trials would only
be more susceptible to
inaccuracy.

Bibliography

Unknown. “Biology – Potatoes Osmosis Lab Report.” studylib.net, February 12, 2017.
https://studylib.net/doc/9221179/biology-%E2%80%93-potatoes-osmosis-lab-report.

Laxman, Sadhika. “Osmolarity Lab.” IB Christie , November 8, 2017.

http://ibchristie.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/2/3882234/osmolarity_lab_-_sadhika_laxman_hl1
_biology_d.pdf.

Zaki, Abdullrhman. “Osmosis Lab Report.” SlideShare, January 12, 2012.

https://www.slideshare.net/XAB00DX/osmosis-lab-report.