Lab Report

“ Osmolarity ”
Miss. Diana Zuñiga

“ What is the effect of osmolarity in potatoes with sugar and salt? ”

Personal Exploratio Analysis: evaluation: Communication: Total:

engagement: n:

Self-grade 4 4 5 6 4 23

Teacher
grade

Date of practical laboratory work: 22 February 2022

Date of the lab report: 12 march 2022

Word count: 2017

Colegio el Camino
Camila Torres Delgado
11°B
1.Topic
Osmolarity

2. Question to be answer/ statement of the problem:

What is the effect of osmolarity in potatoes with sugar and salt?
The statement of the problem in this lab report is that we are going to see how does
osmolarity react on two different solutions, one with salt and other with sugar, we know that
potatoes that are placed in saltwater, their water goes out because of osmosis, so we are
going to see how the potatoes react with different grams of sugar and salt.

3.Personal Engagement:
My personal engagement in this practice is to be more precise on mi measurements, like
measuring the exact grams of sugar and salt that each different mole needs, and making the
potato cuts more exactly to have all the pieces the same. Since we work in pairs, that also
makes me calm because that way we can work faster and help each other by improving on
certain points. I like to do this practice since previously we had done a very similar one to
this one, only that it was a whole different process, so I will strive to have good results and
make good use of the formulas to have a well-formed structured lab as a result.

4.Background information:
Osmolarity is “the concentration of osmotically active particles in solution, which may
be quantitatively expressed in osmoles of solute per liter of solution”(Rxlist, 2021).
It is calculated as the sum of molar ionic species in a media.
In this case we are testing the osmolarity with solutions of distilled water with sugar
and distilled water with salt. As we know distilled water with salt according to "metro
family magazine" the concentration of salt affects the osmolarity of a potato, since as
we know all plants have a lot of water inside, just like a potato, that's why the
osmosis process in potato is to remove all the water it has inside.
In the case of distilled water with sugar it is different, since in the potato the sugar
level increases, since the water goes from a low concentration to a high
concentration due to a process of a membrane that makes the process of osmosis.
4.1)Objective:
The objective of this project is to see and test how the osmolarity process works with
a potato, testing it with two different solutions, one of distilled water with sugar and
the other with salt. We will have to compare before and after results to see if the
osmolarity process actually happened in the potato pieces and how it is different to
do it with two different solutions.

5.Methodology:
5.1) List of materials:
● 1 large potato tuber (cut into 3 cm long and 1 cm wide)
● Sucrose and NaCL, solutions: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 M
● 12 beakers, 250-mL or 300-mL
● Sharpie
● Cork borer
● Distilled water
● Triple beam Balance
● Paper towels
● Ruler
● Petri dish
● Knife
● Tape
● Funnel

5.2)Procedure:
1- First we will collect the necessary materials with the person in charge of the
laboratory
2- then we will start to separate the 12 beakers, 6 for salt and 6 for sugar
3- We will cut 12 pieces of potatoes, they all have to measure and weigh the same
4- While a teammate cuts the potatoes, the other will begin to make the solutions
one by one until reaching 0.6 moles of each substance
5- At the end of each substance, it will be covered with a special laboratory tape
6- since we have the 12 beakers of both substances ready, we will try to make the
potatoes at the same time to start counting the time
7- After an hour has elapsed we will begin to measure the potatoes to compare
results before and after

5.3) Variables to test:

Control Variable Independent Variable Dependent variable

Time Water solutions Weight of the potato piece

(one hour) (salt and sugar solutions) (Grams)

5.4) Hypothesis:
My hypothesis in this lab is that as we know, with the osmolarity process in the case
of the salted potato, the water leaves the potato due to osmosis, but in the case of
the sugar water we don't know what could happen. My hypothesis is that probably
due to the water that the potato is absorbing with the water and sugar solution, the
potato may increase its size a little, I think the increase will be minimal since it will
not be noticeable, only if it is measured with a ruler we can record whether the size
increased or not.

5.5) Ethical and environmental implications:

In this practice we do not have ethical implications, only be careful with certain
materials such as the knife when cutting the pieces of potatoes, also be careful with
the solutions created since they are not so harmful to our health but they could
cause us a certain Stomach ache. In the case of the environment, the osmolarity
affects the growth of certain bacteria, since if you increase the osmolarity in bacteria,
the growth process is slower in most bacteria. For optimal growth, some bacteria
have a preferred osmolarity. Since their cell walls can maintain a substantial osmotic
pressure, most bacteria do not need to accurately control their internal osmolarity.

6. Results as:
6.1) Raw data:
Potato: 3 cm de largo y 1cm de ancho

Table #1 and #2: In table 1 and 2 we can see the calculation of the grams that we are going to
use with each molarm in table one we are using sucrose and in table 2 salt.

*Examples of 0.1mol*
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 = 100𝑚𝑙 × 1𝑙 × (0, 1) × (𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 342. 29𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙)
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 = 100𝑚𝑙 × 1𝑙 × (0, 1) × (𝑁𝑎𝐶𝐿 58. 44𝑔/𝑚𝑜𝑙)

Calculations
Sacarosa: 342.29 grs/mol
Table#1
SUCROSA 100ml

Molar Calculation

0.1 m 3.42g

0.2m 6.85g

0.3m 10.27g

0.4m 13.69g

0.5m 17.11g

0.6m 20.54g

Table #2
SALT 100ml

Molar Calculation

0.1 m 0.584g

0.2m 1.169g

0.3m 1.753g

0.4m 2.338g

0.5m 2.922g

0.6m 3.506g

Table #3 and #4: In this tables we can see the comparison of the size of the potatoes before
and after putting them on the solutions, with this two tables (table #3 and #4), we are going to
make table #5 to represent the results in a line graphic and can deduce if the mole is
hypertonic, isotonic or hypotonic.

Table #3
SUCROSA 100ml
Sucrose 100ml Antes g Antes cm Después cm Después g

0.1 m 3g 3cm largo 2.2cm de largo 3g

1cm ancho 1.1cm de ancho

0.2m 3g 3cm largo 2.7cm de largo 2g

1cm ancho 1.1cm de ancho

0.3m 3g 3cm largo 2.6cm de largo 5g

1cm ancho 1.2cm de ancho

0.4m 3g 3cm largo 2.8 cm de largo 3g

1cm ancho 1.4cm de ancho

0.5m 3g 3cm largo 2.3 cm de largo 3g

1cm ancho 1cm de ancho

0.6m 3g 3cm largo 2.7 cm de largo 4g

1cm ancho 1cm de ancho

Table #4
Sal 100ml
Sal Nacl 100ml Antes g Antes cm Después cm Después g

0.1 m 3g 3cm largo 3 cm de largo 2g

1cm ancho 1 cm de ancho

0.2m 3g 3cm largo 2.4 cm de largo 2g

1cm ancho 1.2cm de ancho

0.3m 3g 3cm largo 2.8 cm de largo 4g

1cm ancho 1.4cm de ancho
 0.4m 3g 3cm largo 2.8 cm de largo 3g
1cm ancho 1.1cm de ancho

0.5m 3g 3cm largo 2 cm de largo 3g

1cm ancho 1.2 cm de ancho

0.6m 3g 3cm largo 2.1 cm de largo 3g

1cm ancho 1.3cm de ancho

Table #5: In this table we get this results by using the formula…
[(𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑤 − 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤) ÷ 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤] × 100

Sal NaCL Percentage Sucrose Percentage

0.1m -33.33 0.1m 0

0.2m -33.33 0.2m -33.33

0.3m 33.33 0.3m 66.66

0.4m 0 0.4m 0

0.5m 0 0.5m 0

0.6m 0 0.6m 33.33

Graph Section
Figure #1
7. Analysis:
Article 1
Osmolality of sports & energy drinks, other beverages and food products
This first article talks about energy drinks, energy drinks as we know are very
popular, especially in gyms since they give you better performance. Studies have
shown that this type of food is identified as hypertonic food, since this type of food
product causes stomach pain, even vomiting. This happens because, as in potatoes,
in the hypertonic process the potatoes run out of liquids since in this process all that
is absorbed, in the case of energy drinks, hypertonic foods cause water from the
intestinal cells and capillaries to be drained into the gastrointestinal tract. Studies of
hypertonic foods have shown that consuming this reduces the absorption of nutrients
in our body and even during exercise it may result in gastric emptying.

Article 2
Serum Osmolality - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf
This second article talks about certain health problems that are related to osmolality,
in which we will focus on dehydration. Isotonic dehydration occurs when sodium and
water are lost together due to causes such as vomiting, diarrhea, burns, sweating,
hyperglycemia, hypoaldosteronism, and intrinsic kidney disease. This dehydration
problem has the name of "isotonic dehydration", as well as an osmolarity process,
this refers to the fact that the body runs out of water and sodium for which we begin
to experience symptoms, it is like with the potato parcatica , the potato loses all the
water it has inside and becomes isotonic.

8.Conclusion and evaluation

As a conclusion we can observe some changes in the potatoes due to the different
solutions, we were able to compare this thanks to the raw data section where we put
the tables where we compared the changes and in the graphs section we were able
to capture it in a linear graph with both comparisons where we could better
understand the type of osmolarity that happened in each mole. My hypothesis was
correct since we did detect changes in the potatoes and we were able to make a
comparison and see if the osmolarity did its process in practice.
In this lab I had more strengths than weaknesses, since this time we had to work
under time since my lab partner and I were one of the few who managed to finish
their lab during class time and we left everything clean, I feel that with the pace of
practices is improving, I'm getting faster at the time of doing the practices.

9.References

● Team, T. (2022, January 22). Energy Drink, Food and Beverage Testing Lab -
Auriga Research. Auriga Research | Testing Lab | NABL ISO/IEC 17025
Accredited | FSSAI Approved. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://aurigaresearch.com/food-testing/osmolality-of-sports-energy-drinks-oth
er-beverages-and-food-products/

● Goldman, L. G. (2020). Osmolarity - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

Science Direct. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-bi
ology/osmolarity

● Conrad, M. (2021, March 29). Medical Definition of Osmolarity. RxList.

Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.rxlist.com/osmolarity/definition.htm

● L. (2020b, November 17). Simple Science Experiment: Osmosis with Potato

Slices. MetroFamily Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.metrofamilymagazine.com/simple-science-experiment-osmosis-w
ith-potato-slices/#:%7E:text=Salt%20is%20the%20key%20here,structure

● How does osmolarity affect bacterial growth? (2021, January 22). Vedantu.
Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.vedantu.com/question-answer/does-osmolarity-affect-bacterial-gr
owth-class-11-biology-cbse-600a60fdf9efda579597be03

● Najem, O. (2024, January 24). NCBI - WWW Error Blocked Diagnostic.

NCBI. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK567764/