Biology HL Internal Assessment

The effect of different concentrations of blackcurrant squash on the rate of osmosis in

Solanum tuberosum.

School name: **********************

Candidate name: Agnes *********
Candidate number: *********

Candidate number: *******-006

Research question:

What is the effect of different concentrations of blackcurrant squash solution on the

rate of osmosis and therefore on the mass of equally sized pieces of potatoes?

Background information:
In biology there are numerous important processes and one of them is osmosis. It is a
passive movement of water molecules from a region of low concentration to the region of
high concentration through partially permeable membrane.

This results in minimizing

osmotic gradient (the difference of concentration on both sides of partially permeable

membrane) and therefore is essential in maintaining homeostasis.
Let assume that we put a cell into a solution, depending on the concentration of those
mediums, there are three possible outcomes :
1) The solution in which a cell is placed is hypotonic (the concentration of water is

higher in medium than in the cell) and therefore the cell will gain water.
2) The medium is hypertonic, the concentration of water outside the cell is lower and the

cell shrinks and lose water.

3) The water concentrations on both sides of partially permeable membrane are equal.

There is no flow of water molecules and such a solution is called isotonic.

Picture 1.2
The graphical representation of the effect of osmosis on cell.

Roberts M., Reiss M., 2000. Advanced Biology, UK, Cheltenham, Nelson

Picture taken from http://antranik.org/movement-of-substances-across-cellmembranes/

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Hypothesis:

According to the background information, placing potato chips in a solutions with

different blackcurrant squash concentration, three different results may be obtained. When the
concentration of blackcurrant in a solution is high, the water molecules will move from the
cell to dilute the medium, potato will lose mass and shrink. In the case, where water
concentration will be lower in the cell, potato will absorb water and get bigger. Finally, when
both potato and medium have the same water concentration, no change will be observed.

Variables:

Independent:
The concentration of the solution. There will be 5 different mediums with 0%,

25%, 50%, 75% and 100% concentration.

Dependent:
The final mass of potato chips. The mass will be measured in g with accuracy

g.
Controlled:
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One type of potatoes. To minimise the source of errors only the middle part of

vegetable will be used, because in different places there may be different water
content.
Once prepared medium for all trials. This will eliminate the error, because in

all six trials, the same concentration will be used. Moreover, medium will be
kept in closed containers to avoid evaporation.
The same source of blackcurrant squash. For all experiments squash will be

used from the same bottle.

Precise timing. All the test tubes will be left for the same amount of time -1h.
The same temperature of distilled water, blackcurrant squash and potatoes. All

these ingredients will be left in lab to get the room temperature, which will
prevent from errors of different rate of osmosis.
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Size of potato chips will be the same. All chips will be cut into cubes 1cm .
The same laboratory conditions.

Apparatus:

1litr of blackcurrant squash.

15 the same type potatoes.

Balance with accuracy

5 beakers with lids and with volume at least 300cm3.

Sharp knife and cutting board.

Ruler with accuracy

1litr of distilled water.

Paper kitchen towel.

2 times 50ml volumetric pipette with accuracy

30 the same type of test tubes with radius at lest

Watch.

Marker.

30 test tubes lids.

Tweezers.

.
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Rubber gloves.

Methodology:
1. Label test tubes.
2. Prepare solutions with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% concentration by adding

adequate amount and distilled water and blackcurrant squash.

Table 1.
Ratio of volume of blackcurrant squash and volume of distilled water needed
to produce different concentration of medium.
The volume of
The volume of
Concentration
The volume of
medium
blackcurrant
of blackcurrant
distilled water
prepared
squash used
squash / %
used /
/
100%
0
40
40
75%

10

30

40

50%

20

20

40

25%

30

10

40

0%

40

40

3. Cut 3 potatoes into half and from each half, from the middle cut

chip. In this

way only 6 cubes will be obtained, what will prevent the water evaporation from
other chips. To cut potatoes use gloves, this will prevent leaving oil from human
hands, which may affect the rate of osmosis. Touch cut chips only through gloves.
4. Put the chips on paper kitchen towel. The excreted juice from the potatoes might

change the weight on the chips.

5. Weight chips and record the results in a table.
6. Put the potato chips into labelled test tubes.
7. To each test tube add

of 100% concentrated solution.

8. Cover test tubes to prevent evaporation of water from test tubes, which might be a

source of error.
9. Leave test tubes for an hour to allow osmosis to occur.
10. Remove potato chips from test tubes and place them on paper kitchen towel for 5

minutes. In this way we will get rid of water which was not absorbed by chips and
might be a source of error.
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11. Weight chips and record results.
12. Repeat the experiment using 0%, 25%, 50% and 75% concentrated solutions.

Safety rules:

Use knife carefully.

Wear lab coat and goggles.

Respect laboratory rules.

Data collection:

Qualitative data:
After taking potato chips from test tubes, I could easily notice that some of
them became shrivelled, especially those taken from high blackcurrant
concentration medium. This is perhaps the result of water loss. However I could
also observe that in the solution consisting just only of distilled water, chips
became bigger, which means that medium was hypotonic and Solanum tuberosum
gained water.
Quantitative data:
Table 2.
Initial and final masses, difference in masses and % difference in weight
of Solanum tuberosum in 100% blackcurrant concentration.

Sample

Initial
weight
/
g

Final
weight
/
g

Difference between
initial and final
masses /
g

% Difference in
weight /%

2.26

1.48

0.78

34.51

2.15

1.40

0.75

34.88

2.09

1.34

0.75

35.89

2.18

1.48

0.70

32.11
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E

2.21

1.49

0.72

32.58

2.14

1.42

0.72

33.64

2.21

1.48

0.73

33.03

2.24

1.53

0.71

31.70

2.12

1.41

0.71

33.49

2.19

1.45

0.74

33.79

Table 3.
Initial and final masses, difference in masses and % difference in weight
of Solanum tuberosum in 75% blackcurrant concentration.

Sample

Initial
weight
/
g

Difference
between
%
Final weight
initial
and Difference in
/
g
final masses weight /%
/
g

2.23

1.61

0.62

27.80

2.12

1.50

0.62

29.25

2.20

1.61

0.59

26.82

2.09

1.46

0.63

30.14

2.12

1.51

0.61

28.77

2.15

1.52

0.63

29.30

2.23

1.57

0.66

29.60

2.15

1.51

0.64

29.77

2.18

1.57

0.61

27.98

2.11

1.48

0.63

29.86

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Table 3.
Initial and final masses, difference in masses and % difference in weight
of Solanum tuberosum in 50% blackcurrant concentration.

Sample

Initial
weight
/
g

Difference
between
%
Final weight
initial
and Difference in
/
g
final masses weight /%
/
g

2.14

1.72

0.42

19.63

2.21

1.75

0.46

20.81

2.20

1.81

0.39

17.73

2.11

1.72

0.39

18.48

2.12

1.72

0.40

18.87

2.25

1.88

0.37

16.44

2.14

1.72

0.42

19.63

2.15

1.71

0.44

20.47

2.09

1.70

0.39

18.66

2.18

1.77

0.41

18.81

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Table 5.

Initial and final masses, difference in masses and % difference in weight of

Solanum tuberosum in 25% blackcurrant concentration.

Final weight
/
g

Difference
between
initial and
final masses
/
g

2.12

1.96

0.16

7.55

2.08

1.93

0.15

7.21

2.26

2.11

0.15

6.64

2.22

2.05

0.17

7.66

2.23

2.07

0.16

7.17

2.12

1.97

0.15

7.08

2.12

1.98

0.14

6.60

2.10

1.97

0.13

6.19

2.21

2.08

0.13

5.88

2.17

2.02

0.15

6.91

Sample

Initial
weight
/
g

% Difference
in weight /%

Table 6.
Initial and final masses, difference in masses and % difference in
weight of Solanum tuberosum in 0% blackcurrant concentration.

Sample

Initial
weight
/
g

Final weight
/
g

Difference
between
initial and
final masses

% Difference
in weight /%

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/

2.08

1.8

-0.28

-13.46

2.11

1.81

-0.3

-14.22

2.23

1.91

-0.32

-14.35

2.25

1.94

-0.31

-13.78

2.05

1.76

-0.29

-14.15

2.12

2.42

-0.30

-14.15

2.15

2.46

-0.31

-14.42

2.21

2.54

-0.33

-14.93

2.17

2.48

-0.31

-14.29

2.24

2.58

-0.34

-15.18

Data processing:

1) Mean:

To make a conclusion from the experiment, average values of percentage

weight change of Solanum tuberosum in different blackcurrant squash concentrations
will be essential. Therefore mean has to be calculated. The formula is:

,
where

are the respective values of % difference in weight of

potato chips from one kind of blackcurrant squash concentration.

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Table 7.
The mean values for the % difference in mass of Solanum tuberosum in
different medium concentrations.
Blackcurrant squash
concentration /%

Mean value of % difference

in weight / %

100%

33.56

75%

28.93

50%

18.95

25%

6.89

0%

-14.29

2) Standard deviation:

To present results most accurately, standard deviation must be calculated.

Standard deviation is a measure of variability (dispersion or spread) of any set of
numerical values about their arithmetic mean.3 The formula is:

,
where

is the value of % difference in weight of potato chips from one kind of

blackcurrant squash concentration.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/562938/standard-deviation
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Table 8.
Standard deviation of %% difference in mass of Solanum tuberosum in
different medium concentrations
Blackcurrant squash
concentration /%

Standard deviation of %
difference in weight / %

100

1.29

75

1.07

50

1.28

25

0.57

0.50

3) ANOVA test

ANOVA test is a statistical tool which compares mean values obtained for
each independent variable in the experiment. In this case, mean values of percentage
difference mass change in solutions with different concentrations of blackcurrant
squash are independent. The ANOVA test has a null hypothesis, which states that all
means of independent variable are the same. Conducting ANOVA test will verify the
hypothesis.

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Data presenting the data obtained with critical value 0.05 using Excel, clearly shows that
F value is much bigger than F critical value. This with very small

contradict

the null hypothesis. It means that mean values of percentage change in mass of Solanum
tuberosum in different concentrations of blackcurrant in medium are significantly different.

4) Uncertainties:

Uncertainties are very important part of data analysis and conclusion. We

already have calculated standard deviation, however we also have to calculate
uncertainties connected with solution.

a) Uncertainty of preparing solution.

b) Total uncertainty.

c) Absolute uncertainty.

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Table 9.
Percentage and absolute uncertainty of volume used for different blackcurrant
concentrations.
Uncertainty
Blackcurrant
for
squash
preparing
concentration /
solution
%
/%

(Uncertainty of
pipette /v of
medium
*100%)

Total
uncertainty
/%

Concentration of
blackcurrant with absolute
uncertainty / %

/%

100

0.24

(0.1/5)*100

2.24

75

0.24

(0.1/5)*100

2.24

50

0.24

(0.1/5)*100

2.24

25

0.24

(0.1/5)*100

2.24

0.24

(0.1/5)*100

2.24

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Data presentation:

From the data obtained above we can present the results with uncertainties.

Table 10.
The total results of the experiment presenting relationship between the concentration of
blackcurrant with absolute uncertainty and the mean value of % difference in weight
standard deviation
Concentration of blackcurrant with absolute
uncertainty / %

Mean value of % difference in weight

standard deviation / %

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Now, as the graph was produced and best-fit line drawn, we can see that despite of high
R2 value, there is some uncertainty. The gradient is a measurement of how much the valume
on y axis change with the increase on x axis by one unit. In our example, for every 1% of
blackcurrant squash concentration increase, there is 0,4710% increase in mean value of
percentage difference in weight. To calculate the uncertainty of the slope, we have to draw the
maximum and minimum gradient lines. The values obtained gradient of maximum and
minimum gradient lines determine the boundaries of the slope. We would consider just two
points, for 0% and 100% concentrated solutions.

Table 11.
The values of points to draw the maximum and minimum gradient lines.
maximum gradient

minimum gradient

Y value / %

X value / %

Y value / %

X value / %

-14.79

-13.79

34.85

102.24

32.27

97.74

In the Table 11, no uncertainties are calculated, because the table represent the maximum
and minimum data with the uncertainties.

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onclusion and evaluation:

From the results obtained I am able to confirm that my hypothesis was correct. In a
hypertonic medium Solanum tuberosum shrivelled, especially those samples taken from
solutions with high concentration of blackcurrant squash. The mass of cells decreased, which
means that potato chips lost water. However in samples taken from 0% blackcurrant
concentration, there was a water gain by cells and therefore the increase in mass was
recorded.
Uncertainty of the gradient is relatively small, it varies from 0.4788 to 0.5203, so the
difference between the highest possible gradient and the lowest is just only 0.0415. This
proves that the results obtained are reliable.
In my experiment I decided to cut potato into equally sized chips. I decided to not to
consider the weight of the chips as a controlled variable it was not the same for every
sample. My decision was based on the fact that surface area of cell has a great influence on
the rate of the reaction and in my experiment I focused on the same surface area for all the
samples.
To get the most accurate results I was trying to control as many variables as possible.
To eliminate error, the solution on one concentration was prepared at once for all trials. This
ensured me that in all trials I had the same percentage concentration of blackcurrant squash.
Unfortunately it did not prevented me from systematic error during the preparation of
mediums I had to read the values from pipette with eye and this may be a source of error. It
could be improved by using electrical pipette.
What is more, to prevent the loss of water, I covered beakers and test tubes. Potato
chips were cut just a while before they were put into test tubes, so again no water was lost. To
obtain the most accurate results, I was wearing gloves and using tweezers, to not to leave oil
from hands, which might have influence on the rate of reaction.

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Temperature also affects the rate of reaction, therefore all substrates were left in
laboratory for night. All laboratory conditions, such as light and temperature were kept
constant.
The results obtained were reasonable and justifiable, what is proven by the small value
of standard deviation (see Table 8.). Another proof is high

value of the trend line on the

Graph 1. However as we can see in the Graph 1, the regression line does not pass through the
points, which means that both systematic and random errors were present.
In my opinion one of the biggest sources of error was immeasurable water content of
potato chips4. I was trying to minimise that by cutting chips from the middle of potatoes. Very
interesting would be conducting an experiment with chips cut from the whole potatoes to
check if that would give different results.
Another systematic error was caused by the balance. Dealing with such small pieces of
Solanum tuberosum, even equipment with high accuracies as 0.05 cm3 in case of pipette, may
cause big uncertainties in results, therefore more accurate balance would be essential.
What is more, using ruler to cut chips also require eye reading and even if 1mm of
accuracy seems a little, in this experiment, but might cause o big error. This human mistake
could be improved by using special machine to cut potatoes.
To eliminate another source of error, after taking Solanum tuberosum from mediums, I
placed them for 5 minutes on the kitchen towel to get rid of excess water present on the
surface, which was not absorbed by potatoes. However 5 minutes is a small amount of time
and there is no assurance that all chips dried to the same extent and did not lose water from
insight of the cells. Another way to deal with this problem is smoothly touching chips with
paper kitchen towel. Water will be quickly absorbed by the paper and the probability of water
loss from the cells will minimised.
If we consider to repeat experiment, interesting would be taking samples with bigger
surface area. Dealing with bigger samples would minimise errors, however the results would

It could be measured but with advanced method and for this lab I had a time
limitation.
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not be proportional to the change of surface area, because the ratio volume to surface area
would increase and it would highly affects the rate of osmosis.

Bibliography:

Books:
1. Greenwood T. , Allan R., 2009. Senior Biology 1, UK, Edinburgh, BIOZONE.
2. Greenwood T. , Allan R., 2009. Senior Biology 2, UK, Edinburgh, BIOZONE.
3. Roberts M., Reiss M., 2000. Advanced Biology, UK, Cheltenham, Nelson.

Webs:
1. Movement of substances across cell membranes. Available at:

http://antranik.org/movement-of-substances-across-cell-membranes/. [Accessed
10.01.2014].
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Standard deviation. Available at:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/562938/standard-deviation.
[Accessed 15.10.2013].

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