In this lab we asked the question, “How and why does a cell’s internal environment change, as its external environment changes?” We tested a hypotonic solution and a hypertonic solution on an egg and looked at their effects on the egg’s mass and circumference. We doused one of the eggs in sugar water creating a hypertonic solution. The other egg was placed in deionized water creating a hypotonic solution. We then compared the circumference and the mass of both the eggs.
When one of the eggs was placed in sugar water, the hypertonic solution, the egg shrunk in circumference by an average of 22.1% and shrunk in mass by an average of 45.9%. When the other egg was placed in deionized water, the hypotonic solution, the egg grew by 7.78% regarding circumference but unexpectedly shrunk in mass by an average of 0.44%.
When placed in a hypertonic solution, the egg shrunk in both circumference and mass, as there was more solute outside of the cell than inside. That caused the egg to diffuse out the water from its membrane through passive diffusion, making it a higher concentration inside the cell and a lower concentration outside of the cell, which balances the concentration. For the egg placed in a hypotonic environment.
When the egg was placed in a hypotonic solution, the egg grew in size. Since in a hypotonic solution there there is more solute inside the cell than outside, the water from outside of the cell diffused through the membrane to dilute the concentration inside and higher the concentration outside of the cell, inevitably making the egg grow in size. However, during this egg diffusion lab, bigger solutes might have diffused out of the egg, causing the egg to lessen in mass, and more water could’ve diffused into the egg to dilute the high concentration in the cell, causing the egg to grow in size.
As a cell’s external environment changes, its internal environment is bound to get affected as the cell changes size and mass based on the hypotonic or hypertonic or other factors. This experiment showed how based on the concentration outside of the egg, the egg could change size, shape, and mass. If the egg was in a hypertonic solution, the egg shrunk. If the egg was in a hypotonic solution, the egg grew.
This lab showed the scientific concept of hypertonicity and hypotonicity and its effect on cells based on its environment. This lab explained why the cell will grow when it is in a hypotonic solution, which is because the cell will diffuse in more water to balance out the high concentration inside the cell. It also explained why the cell will shrink when it is in a hypertonic solution, which is because the cell will diffuse out more water to balance out the high concentration outside of the cell.
In our daily lives, fresh vegetables are often sprinkled with water, and roads are sometimes salted to melt ice. But these actions relate back to the concept of water tonicity. Fresh vegetables are often sprinkled with water to create a balance between the solvent and the solute, delaying the vegetable from spoiling. When the roads are often salted to melt ice, the plants alongside get affected, as it becomes a hypertonic environment. The concentration outside of the cell becomes higher than the inside of the cell, making it shrink and shrivel up, which is detrimental to the plants.
In the future, to build onto this experiment, we could look at different concentrations of the solute, outside of the cell to measure which is best for the cell. In this experiment we saw that when the egg was placed in a hypertonic solution, the egg shrunk, and when the egg was placed in a hypotonic solution, the egg grew. In the next experiment, we could again, use an egg, but use different concentrations of the sugar water to test what their effects would be on the egg. Also, we could test different chemicals, such as salt or common food ingredients, with different concentrations, and measure its effect on the cell.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
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