Chemistry
Osmosis in potatoes and effects of concentration
To show a method for calculating the minimum sucrose concentration that causes water loss in potatoes, pointing out the importance of the concentration of the solution.
Water, cells and plants
osmosis; concentration gradient; plant tissue
The science behind this experiment
This experiment tests a method for determining the minimum concentration of sucrose needed to cause water loss from potato tissues.
Equipment used
- Test tubes — PLA-007
- Test tube rack — PLA-012
- Cork borer — PLA-023
- Graduated glass cylinder 10 ml — CHE-003
- Rubber stopper — CHE-024
- Filter paper — PLA-027
- Glass funnel — PLA-002
- Electronic balance — CHE-015
- Potato
Chemicals and reagents
- Sucrose solution 1 M
- Distilled water
Questions for students
- Fill in the table and calculate the percentage variation.
- Build a graph based on the recorded values, plotting the concentration of sucrose solution against the change.
- Can you predict the minimum concentration of sucrose at which there is neither loss nor gain of water?
Run this experiment in your classroom
This experiment is part of ATP Volta — a self-contained mobile science lab that turns an ordinary classroom into a working STEM laboratory, with over 200 experiments in physics, chemistry, biology, robotics and engineering. Gali, the AI tutor built into ATP Connect, guides students through each step and answers their questions at the bench.
See the ATP Volta mobile science labTalk to our team