Practical

Practical: Factors that Influence Diffusion
 Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration to a

region of lower concentration
 The rate of diffusion is influenced by several factors:
o Temperature
o Surface area
o Concentration gradient
o Diffusion distance
 You can investigate how temperature affects diffusion using beetroot
o Beetroot cells contain a dark purple-red pigment
o Heating above 45℃ can damage the cell membrane meaning that
the pigment can leak out
o The speed at which this pigment leaks out of the cell tells us about the rate of
diffusion
Investigating the effect of temperature on diffusion
Apparatus
 Beetroot
 Knife
 Cork borer (optional)
 Cutting board
 Ruler
 Test tubes
 Water baths
 Stopwatch
Method
 Using a knife, cut 2 equally-sized cubes of beetroot

o The pieces must have the same dimensions so that they all have equal surface
areas and volumes, as these factors could affect the rate at which the pigment
leaks out
o A cork borer can also be used, as long as the cores are cut to the same length
 Rinse the beetroot pieces
o To remove any pigment released during cutting
 Put 5 cm3 of water into 2 test tubes labelled A and B
 Keep test tube A at room temperature and transfer test tube B to a hot water bath
at 90℃
 Leave the test tubes for 2 minutes, then add a piece of beetroot into each test tube
 After 10 minutes, observe the colour of the liquid in both test tubes
Results and Analysis
 You should notice that at the higher temperature, more of the pigment has leaked
out of the beetroot
 This is because:
o The cell membrane of the beetroot cells has become damaged so more
pigment can leak out
o At higher temperatures, particles have more kinetic energy, this results in the
faster movement of particles compared to when they have less energy
Investigating the effect of temperature on diffusion in beetroot
Limitations
 The beetroot pieces may not be identical in size and shape, meaning one test tube
could contain slightly more beetroot tissue than the other
o Solution: cut the beetroot as accurately as possible using a knife and ruler,
and repeat each investigation several times to find a mean
 Some parts of beetroot tissue could have more pigment in their cells than others
o Solution: conduct several repeats, using different parts of the beetroot and
find a mean
 Our results would be more reliable if we tested a range of temperatures rather than
just testing 2
o Solution: Set up 5 test tubes in water baths at different temperatures (e.g.
10℃, 20℃, 30℃, 40℃, 50℃)
 Observing the colour is a subjective measure which means it is difficult to really
compare the differences in diffusion between the test tubes
o Solution: use a colorimeter to measure how much light is absorbed as it
passes through each of the five samples of coloured liquid
Applying CORMS to practical work
 When working with practical investigations, remember to consider your CORMS

evaluation
CORMS evaluation
 In this investigation, your evaluation should look something like this:

o C - We are changing the temperature of the environment
o O - The beetroot cubes will all be taken from the same beetroot or beetroot of
the same age
o R - We will repeat the investigation several times to ensure our results are
reliable
o M1 - We will observe the colour change of the liquid
o M2 - ...after 10 minutes
o S - We will control the volume of water used, the dimensions of the beetroot
cubes and each cube must be blotted before it is weighed each time
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Practical: Factors that Influence Osmosis
 Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from a dilute solution (high
concentration of water) to a more concentrated solution (low concentration of
water) across a partially permeable membrane
Osmosis in cells
 We can investigate osmosis using cylinders of potato and placing them into distilled
water and sucrose solutions of increasing concentration
Apparatus
 Potatoes
 Cork borer
 Knife
 Sucrose solutions (from 0 Mol/dm3 to 1 mol/dm3)
 Test tubes
 Balance
 Paper towels
 Ruler
 Test tube rack
Method
 Prepare a range of sucrose (sugar) solutions ranging from 0 Mol/dm3 (distilled water)
to 1 mol/dm3
 Set up 6 labelled test tubes with 10cm3 of each of the sucrose solutions
 Using the knife, cork borer and ruler, cut 6 equally-sized cylinders of potato
 Blot each one with a paper towel and weigh on the balance
 Put 1 piece into each concentration of sucrose solution
 After 4 hours, remove them, blot with paper towels and reweigh them
Experimental method for investigating osmosis in potato cylinders
Results and analysis

 The percentage change in mass can be calculated for each piece of potato
Calculating percentage change in mass
 The potato in distilled water will gain the most mass due to a high concentration
gradient, causing water to move into the cells by osmosis, increasing turgor pressure
and making the potato firm.
 The potato in the strongest sucrose solution will lose the most mass as water
moves out of the cells by osmosis, making them flaccid and the potato soft (as the
cells become plasmolysed)
Plasmolysed red onion cells
 If there is a potato cylinder that has not increased or decreased in mass, it means there
was no overall net movement of water into or out of the potato cells
 This is because the solution that the cylinder was in was the same concentration as the
solution found in the cytoplasm of the potato cells, so there was no concentration
gradient
Limitations
 Slight differences in potato cylinders may mean that results aren't reliable or
comparable
o Solution: for each sucrose concentration, repeat the investigation with several
potato cylinders. Making a series of repeat experiments means that any
anomalous results can be identified and ignored when a mean is calculated
Applying CORMS evaluation to practical work
 When working with practical investigations, remember to consider your CORMS

evaluation
CORMS evaluation
 In this investigation, your evaluation should look something like this:

o C - We are changing the concentration of sucrose solution
o O - The potato cylinders will all be taken from the same potato or potatoes of
the same age
o R - We will repeat the investigation several times to ensure our results are
reliable
o M1 - We will measure the change in mass of the potato cylinders
o M2 - ...after 4 hours
o S - We will control the volume of sucrose solution used, the dimensions of the
potato cylinders and each cylinder must be blotted before it is weighed each
time

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Practical: Factors that Influence Diffusion

 Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration to a

Investigating the effect of temperature on diffusion

 Using a knife, cut 2 equally-sized cubes of beetroot

Results and Analysis

Applying CORMS to practical work

 When working with practical investigations, remember to consider your CORMS

 In this investigation, your evaluation should look something like this:

Did this video help you?

Results and analysis

Calculating percentage change in mass

Applying CORMS evaluation to practical work

 When working with practical investigations, remember to consider your CORMS

 In this investigation, your evaluation should look something like this:

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