Discussion
In order to find the rate of osmosis at each trial, the initial mass and the final mass were determined using an electronic balance. These values were then subtracted from one another and divided by the time left in the solution, which was 20 minutes. The formula used for this process was:
The general trend of the graph is that for every increase in size, there is an increase in the Rate of Osmosis. At 1cm x 1cm the points are reasonably close to one another, with the value of 110, 124 and 139. There is only a 29-unit difference between the minimum and maximum values. The next increase in size of 2cm x 2cm is even more precise with a small difference of 8-units between the values of 353, 357 and 361. The final cube size of 3cm x 3cm, had a large difference from the minimum and maximum values of 234-units. During the experiment it was observed that a small amount of the 3cm x 3cm cube was not completely submerged by the solution. This was a human mistake which is possibly the reason for such variation in the trials and the absence of any pattern throughout the data. The line of best fit demonstrates that the 1cm x 1cm and 3cm x 3cm sizes are reasonably accurate due to the line cutting through their average values. The 2cm x …show more content…
One of the few include repeating the experiment four times rather than two. This would improve the reliability and accuracy of the data. To test a possible trend for this experiment, more cube sizes could be added into the method to determine whether the rate of osmosis increases constantly or will fluctuate. During the experiment the potato was not measured to the exact same size at every trial. This meant that each potato may have varied in size, even by the smallest ridged or fracture. By using more care when sectioning the potato cube, the results will become more reliable and precise, therefore displaying any possible
In order to find the rate of osmosis at each trial, the initial mass and the final mass were determined using an electronic balance. These values were then subtracted from one another and divided by the time left in the solution, which was 20 minutes. The formula used for this process was:
The general trend of the graph is that for every increase in size, there is an increase in the Rate of Osmosis. At 1cm x 1cm the points are reasonably close to one another, with the value of 110, 124 and 139. There is only a 29-unit difference between the minimum and maximum values. The next increase in size of 2cm x 2cm is even more precise with a small difference of 8-units between the values of 353, 357 and 361. The final cube size of 3cm x 3cm, had a large difference from the minimum and maximum values of 234-units. During the experiment it was observed that a small amount of the 3cm x 3cm cube was not completely submerged by the solution. This was a human mistake which is possibly the reason for such variation in the trials and the absence of any pattern throughout the data. The line of best fit demonstrates that the 1cm x 1cm and 3cm x 3cm sizes are reasonably accurate due to the line cutting through their average values. The 2cm x …show more content…
One of the few include repeating the experiment four times rather than two. This would improve the reliability and accuracy of the data. To test a possible trend for this experiment, more cube sizes could be added into the method to determine whether the rate of osmosis increases constantly or will fluctuate. During the experiment the potato was not measured to the exact same size at every trial. This meant that each potato may have varied in size, even by the smallest ridged or fracture. By using more care when sectioning the potato cube, the results will become more reliable and precise, therefore displaying any possible