CHEMISTRY PRACTICAL

Effect of Different Salt Concentrations on the Rate of Osmosis in Potato Cubes

 CHEMISTRY PRACTICAL
Effect of Different Salt Concentrations on the Rate of Osmosis in Potato Cubes

Introduction:

Osmosis is a process by which water molecules move

from a region of higher water concentration to a region of
lower water concentration through a semi-permeable
membrane. In this experiment, we will investigate how
different salt concentrations affect the rate of osmosis in
potato cubes. The concentration of salt in a solution
affects the concentration of water molecules in the
solution, and therefore, the rate of osmosis.

Figure 1: Osmosis
Materials:

- 2 large fresh potatoes

- Knife
- Spoon
- Paper toweling
- Ruler
- 250ml 20% NaCl solution
- 250ml distilled water.
- 50ml measuring cylinder.
- 5 x 250ml beakers
- Electronic balance
- Masking tape

Methods:

- Cut two large potatoes into cubes of equal size using a knife.
- Blot the potato cubes with paper toweling to remove excess moisture.
- Weigh the potato cubes on an electronic balance and record the initial weight of each cube.
- Label 5 beakers with the salt concentrations to be tested: 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 10%, and 20%.
- Pour 50ml of the appropriate solution into each beaker.
- Place one potato cube into each beaker using a spoon, making sure the cube is fully submerged in the
solution.
- Leave the potato cubes in the solutions for 20 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the potato cubes from the solutions and blot them with paper toweling to remove
excess moisture.
- Weigh the potato cubes again and record the final weight of each cube.
- Calculate the percentage change in weight of each potato cube using the formula: ((final weight - initial
weight) / initial weight) x 100%.
- Record the results in a table and plot a graph of percentage change in weight against salt concentration.
 Results:

water salt mass mass

concentration concentration before after

Salt concentration Percentage Change in Weight

50ml 0% 3.158 3.236

50ml 1% 3.343 3..270

0% 2.46%
50ml 5% 2.953 2.923

50ml 10% 2.94 1.998 1.00% -2.18%

Figure 4: table of salt and water
concentration aswell as potato
masses 5% -10.01%

10% -32.04%

The results of the experiment showed that as the salt concentration in the
solution increased, the percentage change in weight of the potato cubes Figure 2: Change of weight in
decreased. This indicates that a higher salt concentration resulted in a percentage table
slower rate of osmosis, as the water molecules had a lower concentration
in the solution and were therefore less likely to move into the potato cubes.

However, it's important to note that the experiment was conducted over a 30-minute time period, and the rate of
osmosis may continue to change over a longer period of time. For instance, if the experiment were conducted over
several hours, it's possible that the rate of osmosis would slow down even more as the concentration gradient
between the solution and the potato cubes equalized.

Additionally, the experiment only tested a limited range of salt concentrations, so further experiments could be
conducted to investigate the effect of different salt concentrations on the rate of osmosis. For example, it would be
interesting to see if there is a threshold salt concentration beyond which the rate of osmosis slows down
significantly, or if there is a concentration at which osmosis stops altogether

Discussion:
Percentage Change in Weight

In this experiment, potato cubes were immersed in 5.00%

solutions of varying salt concentrations, ranging from 0% 0.00%
CHANGE IN WEIGHT PERCENTAGE

to 10%. The percentage change in weight of the potato 0.00% 1.00% 5.00% 10.00%
cubes was then measured to determine the rate of -5.00%

osmosis. -10.00%

The results of the experiment showed that the rate of -15.00%

osmosis decreased as the salt concentration in the -20.00%
solution increased. At a 0% salt concentration, the
-25.00%
potato cubes gained weight, indicating that water was
moving into the potato cells via osmosis. This occurred -30.00%
because the concentration of water molecules was -35.00%
SOLUTE PERCENTAGE

Figure 3: Change of weight in percentage

graph
higher inside the potato cells than in the surrounding solution, creating a concentration gradient that allowed water
to move into the cells.

However, as the salt concentration increased, the concentration of water molecules in the surrounding solution
decreased. This resulted in a decrease in the concentration gradient, making it more difficult for water molecules to
move into the potato cells. As a result, the rate of osmosis decreased, and at 5% and 10% salt concentration, the
potato cubes lost weight, indicating that water was moving out of the potato cells.. It is important to note, however,
that the experiment was conducted over a relatively short period of time (20 minutes). Therefore, it is possible that
the rate of osmosis may have been different if the experiment had been conducted over a longer period.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the results of this experiment demonstrate that osmosis occurs in potato cells when they are
submerged in salt solutions of different concentrations. The weight of the potato cubes decreased as the salt
concentration increased, indicating that water moved out of the cells and into the more concentrated salt solutions
through osmosis. The highest salt concentration (10% NaCl solution) resulted in the largest percentage decrease in
weight of the potato cubes, indicating that the rate of osmosis increased with increasing salt concentration.