Osmosis is a mode of passive transport used by the cells. It involves the transport of a solvent like water across a semi-permeable membrane. Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules from an area of low solute to an area of high solute. In osmosis, the semi-permeable membrane (the lipid bilayer) enables the solvent molecules to pass freely between but limits movements of the solute. Osmosis is the primary way water moves into and out of all cells. In this experiment, the demineralized egg demonstrates a cell membrane. The solvent molecules passed freely in or out of the demineralized egg depending on the what the solute concentration was (Hardin, 2013). In osmosis, there is three types of concentration solutions. A hypertonic …show more content…
Questions:
1. Vinegar is made of acetic acid and water. Explain how it was able to remove the calcium shell.
A. The vinegar, reacting with the calcium of the shell, broke down the shell to the membrane. The water in the vinegar then continued to swell the egg.
2. (a) What happened to the size of the egg after remaining in vinegar? (b) Was there more or less liquid left in the cup? (c) Did water move into or out of the egg? Why? Circumference (cm)
A. (a) The size of the egg grew after remaining in the vinegar because the egg swelled in the water of the vinegar.
(b) Less liquid was left inside the cup because it was “sucked” into the egg.
(c) The water moved into the egg because of the process of osmosis. Because the egg had a high solute, the solution (water) went into the egg causing it to swell.
3. (a) What happened to the size of the egg after remaining in distilled water? (b) Was there more or less liquid left in the cup? (c) Did water move into or out of the egg? Why?
A. (a) When the egg was put into the water it began to swell quickly.
(b) The liquid inside of the cup was absorbed into the egg, so there was less water inside of the …show more content…
The hypothesis proved to be correct because when the egg was placed in a hypertonic solution it swelled and when it was placed into a hypotonic solution the liquid in the egg was depleted leaving it wrinkled. The results showed that the egg expanded when exposed to vinegar and water, while it was diminished when exposed to corn syrup. In egg #1, the membrane was exposed to water, the egg circumference grew about 12% of its original size. This shows that the water is a hypertonic while the egg was hypotonic. The pH of water and corn syrup did not have any noticeable effect on the experiment, but the acidic vinegar was used to break down the calcium shell of the egg leaving only the membrane surrounding the inside of the egg. The vinegar also contains water and this caused the egg to swell. Because however, the eggs used were fresh home-grown egg, the calcium eggshell was very think and after the shell was removed the vinegar did not have time to be “absorbed” by the egg. This caused the circumference of the egg to be less than the initial