Question

Understanding Osmosis using Potato MATERIALS REQUIRED: A large peeled potato, knife, Sugar solution, water, red food colour, small dish, water and bell pins. PROCEDURE: Take the peeled potato and cut off by it base a little so as to make it flat. Drill a wide cavity vertically into the potato with a minimum thickness in the base (don’t make open hole). Dissolve sugar granules in some water. Now that the sugar solution is ready, fill up half of the cavity in the potato with sugar solution and mark the level using the bell pin. Now in a small dish, add water and few pinch of food colour. Introduce the potato setup into the dish containing the coloured water. Make sure only 75% of the potato is immersed in water. Leave the setup undisturbed. Observe the colour change and level in the sugar solution. Write observations in paper.

OBSERVATION:​ Increase or decrease observation for 4 days

pls Help. Find observation

Answer 1

Answer:

Observation of this experiment will be,

• the level of sugar solution inside the potato crossed the bell pin (increased)
• the colorless sugar solution will turn into a colored solution
• a decreased level of water outside the potato.

Explanation:

Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules from a higher concentration of solvent (lower concentration of solute) solution to a lower concentration of solvent (higher concentration of solute) solution.

After keeping the potato with sugar solution in the colored water solution for some time, we will be seeing the observations given above. From this observation, it is clear that,

• osmosis has occurred (water molecules along with the color from outside the potato moved into the sugar solution, which raised the level of solution)

• the walls of the potato can act as a semipermeable membrane (the  thin bases of the potato selectively permits the water molecules to enter into the cavity)

• The sugar solution is osmotically active (it accepts the water molecules from outside).

Once the concentrations of both solutions reach the same, the process will not continue further.

Answer 2

The observations after four days are as follows:

• The level of solution in the potato increases. It crosses the mark of the bell pin.

• The transparent sugar solution in the water becomes colorful.

Osmosis

Osmosis is the process by which solvents like water diffuse from a solution of low solute concentration to a solution of high solute concentration through a semi-permeable membrane.

Mechanism of potato setup

• The water inside the potato cavity contains a higher concentration of solute, that is, sugar. The water outside the potato has zero concentration of solute.

• Hence, the water flows inward from a low concentration of solute to a high concentration of solute.

• The potato acts as a semi-permeable membrane through which the water diffuses.

• Thus, the level of water increases inside the water, and the color also changes.