Write up of how SA:Vol ratio affects osmosis in potatoes:

Method:
1. Gather 15 test tubes
2. Pour 2 cm^3 of distilled water into a measuring cylinder and make it up
to 10cm^3 (8cm^3) with 10% sucrose solution
3. Pour this into a test tube
4. Repeat this 5 times
5. Use a cork bora to get a cylinder of potato from a large potato
6. Use the same potato and repeat this 5 times
7. Measure the length of the potato cylinder (30mm) with a ruler and
measure the diameter (8mm).
8. Measure the surface area with the equation: π(d) x h + 2 π(r^2).
9. Measure the volume with the equation: π(r^2) x h
10. Quickly measure the mass of the 5 potato cylinders on a mass balance so
that they do not dry out and note them.
11. Put 1 potato cylinders into each test tube with the sucrose solution at
the same time and leave for 5 minutes.
12. Then remove them from the test tubes and pat them dry with a paper
towel to remove excess moisture.
13. Weight them individually on a mass balance and note the final mass.
14. Repeat this process for 3 different surface areas, keeping the volume
the same (in our case, we used 1 piece of 30mm, 2 pieces of 15mm (weighed 2 pieces
at a time), 3 pieces of 10mm (weighed 3 pieces at a time) for different surface
areas).
15. Measure the difference in mass for each surface area and the percentage
increase, and take an average of results.
16. Plot a graph of results

Results:
Concentration: 2cm^3 distilled water + 8cm^3 10% sucrose solution.

8mm diameter
30 mm height
Mass -
1: 1.62 - 1.64
2: 2.12 - 2.15
3: 1.89 - 1.90
4: 1.98 - 2.02
5: 1.97 - 1.98

8mm diameter
15 mm height x2
Mass-
1. 1.83 - 1.88
2. 1.82 - 1.87
3. 1.82 - 1.88
4. 1.76 - 1.82
5. 1.61 - 1.66

8mm diameter
10 mm height x3
Mass-
1. 1.97 - 2.04
2. 1.86 - 1.93
3. 1.99 -2.07
4. 2.02 -2.08
5. 1.95 -2.02
Results Table:
Surface area: volume ratio Change in Mass 1 (%) Change in Mass 2 (%) Change
in Mass 3 (%) Change in Mass 4 (%) Change in Mass 5 (%) Mean percentage
change (%)
272π : 480π 1.23 1.42 0.53 1.23 0.53 0.99
304π : 480π 2.73 2.75 3.30 3.41 3.11 3.06
336π : 480π 3.55 3.76 4.02 2.97 3.59 3.58
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the higher the surface area, the larger the change in mass, meaning
the greater the rate of osmosis. This is due to a larger surface area providing
more area for water molecules to pass through the semi-permeable membrane, meaning
a greater volume of solvent can move across the membrane per unit of time (minutes
in our case). This results in a faster rate of osmosis. Most of the graphs have a
similar graphical shape except experiment 4, where the highest surface area to
volume ratio (336π : 480π) has a lower mean percentage change in mass (rate of
osmosis) than that of 304π : 480π. This could be down to human error (e.g. delayed
removal of the potato with surface area 304π : 480π, so more water was taken up, or
that sample was not dried sufficiently before weighing).
• How could the experiment be improved?
To improve the experiment I would make sure the repeated potato samples are the
same mass, as this would affect the rate of osmosis and percentage mass change. I
would also change the way the potatoes are added to the sucrose solutions, as there
was a large time delay between each potato sample being added to each test tube, so
I do the experiment one potato sample at a time to increase the validity of the
experiment.

Graph: