Egg Diffusion Lab

In this lab, we tested 2 eggs that had been soaked in vinegar for a couple of days. We then put one egg in deionized (pure) water and another egg in a sugar solution. After two days, we came back to see what had happened to the eggs. When the sugar concentration the egg was in increased, the mass of the egg decreased by 45.9% on average. The circumference decreased by an average of 22.1%. The sugar in the solution, which is the solute, has a high concentration outside the cell and a low concentration inside the cell. So, as a result, the solvent in the cell moves outside of the cell and the cell shrinks. The more sugar that was present outside the cell, the more the cell decreases in size. Cells respond to their changing external environment internally due to different basic cell processes, like osmosis for example. The cells themselves change because they need to function a normal rate at all times for the whole body to keep working. If they didn't change, the cells wouldn't function properly. This lab relates to diffusion, the movement of molecules across a concentration gradient through the membrane, specifically osmosis, the passive diffusion of water. Depending on the solute concentration in certain areas (inside/outside), the solutions (deionized water and sugar), were hypotonic or hypertonic. The pure water was hypotonic and made the cell grow, while the sugar was hypertonic and made the cell shrink. Vegetables at markets are sprinkled with water because they need to be preserved. Roads with ice on them are salted because the salt shrinks the cells of the solid water and as that happens, the ice melts. Salt water on vegetables prevents them from spoiling and takes out water from their cells. Based off of this lab, I would want to test an egg the exact same way except with salt water to see how this data will differs from the results obtained while testing with the sugar solution. The egg will probably shrink in that case because the solution itself, with salt as the solute is hypertonic.

Control: Deionized Water
Group #	1	3	6	8	AVG
% Change in Mass	-0.95%	0.40%	-0.38%	-0.84%	-0.44%
% Change in Circumference	5.88%	0.60%	25.90%	0.00%	7.78%
Sugar Water
Group #	2	4	5	7	AVG
% Change in Mass	-47.15%	-44.25%	-46.08%	-46.89%	-45.90%
% Change in Circumference	-24.24%	-17.64%	-18.76%	-27.80%	-22.10%

24 hour time lapse of our Egg Diffusion Lab. Egg on left in corn syrup, egg on right in DH2O pic.twitter.com/wdfujQyBXM

— Mr. Orre's Class (@OrreBiology) October 5, 2016