We have been asked to investigate the effect of osmosis on potato chips. Osmosis is the diffusion of water from a lower concentration of solute to a higher concentration of solute, through a membrane. .
I have chosen to investigate the effect of the water potential/concentration of solution on potato chips. This means that I will put potato chips into salt solutions of different concentrations. These concentrations would be ones such as these; 0.25mola, 0.5m, 0.75m, 1.0m, 1.25m, 1.50 and distilled water.
There are other factors involved and these are; .
Temperature.
Water potential of potato initially.
SIZE of potato.
Light intensity .
Mass of potato dependent variable.
Volume of solution potato chip is in .
Type of potato.
Time left in solution.
Surface area of potato chip.
Use the same balance to measure chip .
If I am going to conduct a fair test, then I am going to have to control these other factors. Doing all the tests at one temperature will control the temperature. For the purpose of my experiment I am going to do all the experiments at room temperature.
To keep the water potential of the potato initially will be kept the same by using the same type of potato, which have been treated in the same way, e.g. have all been cut without being washed and peeled.
The size of the potato is very important. This is because if the size of the potato varies,.
so will the amount of mass is looses or gains. I will cut all the pieces of potatoes, to the.
same size. We will be given potato chips with the same width and dimensions, but the.
length of them will differ, (due to potatoes being of uneven shapes). The potato chip will.
be 3cm in length.
The light intensity will be kept the same by doing all the experiments in the same room,.
with the same light intensity, (no extra light will be shone on the experiments, nor will.
there be any experiments kept in the dark). .
The mass of the potato is a dependent variable, and this means that it will be measured.