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INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF OSMOSIS USING SWEETS NOTES

April 17, 2024

Section: Predict

1. What will happen to the Gummy Bears placed in the most dilute salt solutions, and why?

Comment: They will grow (increase in size). This is because the water potential outside of
them is more than that inside, so water moves into the Gummy Bear by osmosis.

2. What will happen to the Gummy Bears placed in the most concentrated salt solutions, and why?

Comment: They will shrink (decrease in size). This is because the water potential outside of
them is less than that inside, so water moves out of the Gummy Bear by osmosis to the
surroundings.

3. Why should you cover the containers with cling film overnight?

Comment: This reduces evaporation of water from the solution, which could vary the solution’s
concentration. This would limit the validity of the study.

4. Why is it important to ensure that the initial mass of bears was the same?

Comment: If the initial mass of the Gummy Bears is identical, then we can make a valid
comparison of their final masses. If the initial masses were to be different, then this would be a
non-standardised variable that would mean any comparison of final masses would not be valid
(fair). For example, a larger Gummy Bear is more likely to grow more than a smaller Gummy
Bear.

Section: Explain

1. Explain why the size of the Gummy Bears changed in the different solutions. Refer to water
potential in your answer.

Comment: When placed in solutions with a high solute concentration, the Gummy Bears lost
mass. The higher the concentration of sodium chloride solution, the more mass they lost. When
placed in solutions with a low solute concentration, the Gummy Bears gained mass. The lower
the concentration of sodium chloride solution, the more mass they gained. Water moves by
osmosis down its water potential gradient, either into or out of the Gummy Bears.

2. What happened to the mass and the volume of the Gummy Bears in the most concentrated salt
solutions?

Comment: The correct statement is ‘mass decreased and volume decreased’. Due to a net
movement of water molecules by osmosis, the mass and volume of the Gummy Bears will
decrease.

3. Explain how the substance from which Gummy Bears are made acts as a partially-permeable
membrane.

Comment: The substance only allows water molecules to move through, and not the other
types of molecule. This means that the contents of the Gummy Bear, with the exception of
water, cannot leave, and no salt can pass from the solution into the Gummy Bear.

Section: Plan

1. Identify the independent variable in this investigation.

Comment: The independent variable in this investigation is the temperature.

2. Suggest how the rate of osmosis could be calculated and how its measurement could be more
accurate.

Comment: The rate of osmosis could be calculated by dividing the change in the length of the
Gummy Bear by the time of incubation. It would be important to ensure that the incubation time
is not too long, to ensure that the time of incubation is stopped before the maximum change is
reached.

3. Identify two factors that must be standardised in this investigation.

Comment: The two factors that must be standardised in this investigation are time of incubation
and the mass of the Gummy Bears used at the different temperatures.

Section: Analyse

1. Referring to the data in the graph, describe the trend shown in these results.

Comment: As the concentration of the salt solution increases, the percentage change in length
of the Gummy Bear decreases. This means that they shrink in size.

2. Use these results to estimate the water potential equivalent to that of a Gummy Bear.

Comment: The plotted line crosses the x-axis at approximately 1.6 spoons of salt. A solution
with this concentration would be expected to bring about no change in length of the Gummy
Bear, meaning that the water potential is equivalent to the material from which it is made.

3. If the investigation were to be repeated, how could the student more accurately find the water
potential of a solution equivalent to the Gummy Bear? Give two reasons.

Comment:

Incubating Gummy Bears in solutions of concentration with smaller intervals for more
values of concentration of salt solution on either side of their estimated value for the water
potential (1.6 spoons). This will allow for more points to be added to this graph, to be
more confident of the concentration of salt for which the change in length is zero.

Incubate the Gummy Bears in the solutions for a longer period of time. Incubating them in
the solutions for longer would mean that they reach osmotic equilibrium with their
surroundings in a shorter period of time.

Attach some form of weight to each Gummy Bear to ensure that they are completely
covered by the salt solution (e.g. a pin).

Section: Evaluate

1. Discuss whether the Gummy Bear is a valid model of a cell.

Comment: The Gummy Bear contains some water that has other substances dissolved in it,
similar to the cytoplasm. However, it does not have structures within its material or have a cell
membrane/ wall, which are in cells.

2. For what reason was the percentage change in length measured?

Comment: The answer is ‘It allows a valid comparison of data’. The length of the Gummy
Bears may differ very slightly, but if the percentage change in length is measured, these
differences are accounted for. This allows a valid comparison between the Gummy Bears that
were placed into the different solutions.

3. Imagine that you had less time to perform this experiment. One suggestion is to conduct it with
warm, rather than cold, salt solutions. Explain why.

Comment: All particles, including water molecules, will have more kinetic energy at a raised
temperature, so will move around with greater speed. Gummy Bears placed into a warmer salt
solution will therefore reach osmotic equilibrium with that tissue in a shorter period of time.