D O E S T H E M A S S O F A G U M M Y C H A N G E W H E N I T I S S U B M E R G E D I N D I F F E R E N T WAT E R S O L U T I O N S ?

AIM BACKGROUND INFORMATION RESULTS

• To determine how different substances mixed • Throughout this investigation, I am interested to see how mass changes in a gummy when it is submerged Average Mass of Gummy after being submerged in
with water affect the mass of a gummy over in water with a certain substance in it (such as salt or sugar).
periods of time. Different Water Solutions
• The scientific principle I will be investigating in this experiment is osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of a
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HYPOTHESIS solvent through a semipermeable membrane into a solution of higher solute concentration.
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• My investigation is related to this principle as a gummy is semipermeable to water. This means it can let
• If the gummy is placed in pure water, then the water molecules in, but only if they are not too big. Gummies are made up of gelatine, starch and sugar, 6
mass of the gummy will dramatically increase, and the gelatine acts as a semipermeable membrane.
but if the gummy is placed in salted water, 4
then the mass should decrease. If it is placed • Using this principle, it is evident that the gummy submerged in pure water will increase the most, as it is
in water mixed with sugar, the mass of the semipermeable, so should let in more water molecules, compared to other substances. The molecules in 2
gummy should increase, but not as much as salt water are bigger, so the gummy submerged in salt water should decrease in mass as it can’t access the
the pure water. This is due to the principle of molecules. 0
osmosis. To start After 6 hrs After 12 hrs After 24 hrs After 48 hrs

Pure Water Salt Water Sugar Water

DISCUSSION METHOD Averag Pure Salt Sugar
• My hypothesis was consistent, but didn’t account for the fact • Label each bowl, stating whether it is pure water, sugar water, or salt water.
e Mass
of
Water Water Water REFERENCES
that the gummy when submerged in water mixed with salt
would increase in mass, before decreasing. I also stated in my Gumm • Michigan.gov. 2016. [online] Available at:
• Fill each bowl with 100mLs of water. Leave one bowl as it is, but mix 1tbsp of salt into
hypothesis that the gummy submerged in pure water would y (g) <https://www.michigan.gov/documents/explorela
the second bowl, and 1tbsp of sugar into the third bowl.
increase in mass more than the gummy submerged in water bscience/Gummy_Bears_and_Osmosis_622469_7.
mixed with sugar, but in fact, it was the other way around. To start 3.0 3.0 3.0 pdf> [Accessed 23 March 2021].
• Weigh the mass of a gummy that isn’t being put into a bowl, to compare results with.
• A trend I observed from this data was, as the time increased, After 6 5.9 5.0 6.3 • Kids.kiddle.co. 2021. Osmosis Facts for Kids.
the mass of the gummies in both pure water and water mixed • Gently place a gummy into each bowl, so as not to spill water. hrs [online] Available at:
with sugar would increase dramatically, but when mixed with <https://kids.kiddle.co/Osmosis> [Accessed 3
salt would increase less, then begin decreasing. • Record the mass of a gummy, using scales, after 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours of being After 12 6.8 5.2 7.5 February 2021].
submerged in the certain water solution, into a table.
• A pattern which was observed from this data was that the hrs
mass of all three gummies increased extensively in the first 6 • Puiu, T., 2020. What is osmosis -- the most
• Repeat steps 2 more times, to form 3 trials, so the results are fair and reliable. After 24 7.6 5.6 8.2
hours of being submerged in the certain water solution, but important principle in biology. [online] ZME
would not increase in size as quickly, as time went on. hrs Science. Available at:
<https://www.zmescience.com/science/what-is-
• An error which occurred was that as the gummy was picked
up with tongs to be weighed on the scales, some bits of the MATERIALS After 48
hrs
7.7 5.2 8.8 osmosis-0634/> [Accessed 21 March 2021].

gummy would fall off as it had softened over time. This would
affect the results as the bits that had fallen off the gummy • 9 plastic bowls (3 per trial) • By Naomi Wright
were not weighed.
• 12 gummies (4 per trial) CONCLUSION
• The experiment could be improved by extending the amount
of time the gummies were submerged. This would improve • 100 mL of water per bowl • After finishing the experiment, I found out that the gummies that were submerged in water mixed with sugar increased in mass the most, at an
the results and would make it clearer to see when they were average of 8.8 grams after the 48 hours. The gummies submerged in pure water reached an average mass of 7.7 grams, and the gummies submerged
changing in mass. • 1 tbsp of salt (per trial) in water mixed with salt only reached an average mass of 5.6 grams, before decreasing to 5.2 grams by the end of the 48 hours.
• 1 tbsp of sugar (per trial)
• To answer my experimental question, yes, the mass of a gummy does change when submerged in different water solutions for certain periods of time.