Osmosis in potatoes

Aim: To find out the concentration of sugar in potato cells.

Plan:
Background science: Osmosis is diffusion of a special kind. It is diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane. Osmosis is very popular in plant cells. Osmosis works in plant cells because the cell membranes of the plant cells are partially permeable membranes. The cell sap inside of the vacuole is the strong solution. Therefore the water diffuses into the plant cell by osmosis and weakens the cell sap.

Potato cells are also partially permeable. Therefore if the potato chip were placed in a sugar solution, which is weaker than it is in its cells, the potato chip would increase in size. Whereas, the potato chip will decrease in size if it is placed in a sugar solution that is stronger than the solution in its cells.


Method: To find out the concentration of sugar in a potato cell, I used potato chips. I put potato chips in sugar solutions of different strengths. I then checked the end result and found ...