Experimental Findings
Summary
The data obtained from the above experiment supports the hypothesis that if the cell is soaked in corn syrup, a hypertonic solution, then water will move out of the cell by osmosis, and the egg will shrink. Besides, it supports that if the cell is soaked in H2O, a hypotonic solution, water will move into the cell by osmosis, and the egg will swell.
Based on the above results, vinegar is an acid that reacts with the eggshell’s calcium carbonate to dissolve, making the egg soften. In addition, corn syrup is the hypertonic solution, which draws water from the cells, causing the eggs to shrink. H2O is a hypotonic solution that makes water from outside the cell enter, causing them to swell. The movement of water in both solutions is by osmosis.
Osmosis occurs in the presence of a semi-permeable membrane provided by the plasmalemma. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, such as glucose, water molecules diffuse out of it to the external environment to establish an isotonic state, causing the cell to be crenate (Marbach & Bocquet, 2019). This movement occurs since there is less concentration gradient of water molecules in the surroundings than in the cell. Conversely, when the cell is placed in H2O, a hypotonic solution, water molecules diffuse from the surrounding through the semi-permeable membrane into the cell, lysing it (Marbach & Bocquet, 2019). Osmosis facilitates the establishment of an equilibrium state between water molecules in the cell and those in the surrounding.
The possible sources of errors in this experiment emanate from two points. Firstly, the concentration of the eggs was not equal, as some eggs could have been more hypertonic than others. Secondly, some solutions might have impurities, such as corn syrup, which would ultimately raise the concertation beyond the standards of the experiment (Marbach & Bocquet, 2019). Therefore, these sources might have contributed to false readings despite being negligible.
Reference
Marbach, S., & Bocquet, L. (2019). Osmosis, from molecular insights to large-scale applications.Chemical Society Reviews, 48(11), 3102-3144.