Egg Diffusion Lab

    When the sugar concentration increased, the mass and circumference of the egg decreased. This is because the egg was placed in a hypertonic solution. The sugar is the solute and the water is the solvent. The water molecules diffused through the membrane through passive diffusion from the low concentration of the sugar to the high concentration, so the egg shrunk.

    The cell's internal environment changes as its external environment changes, since the cell is pressured to keep the sides in equilibrium. The egg grew when it was placed in the vinegar, as the vinegar had a lower concentration of sugar than the egg. The egg grew even more when it was placed in water, but it shrunk when it was placed in sugar water.

    This lab demonstrates the biological principal that everything wants to reach equilibrium. The solvent diffuses through the membrane to make both sides of the membrane have the same concentration of sugar.

    Fresh water is sprinkled with water so that the water on the vegetable evaporates before the internal water evaporates. This will keep the vegetable fresher for a longer time. Putting salt on roads will "draw the water out of their iced form", making it melt faster. This salt also extracts the water out of the plants on the roadside, making the plants more dry. This is because the water moves from the less concentrated solution on the interior of the plant cells to the outside with the salt.

    Based on this experiment, I would want to test putting eggs in more types of solutions. This is because I am not sure if the egg only shrinks in the the corn syrup or if it shrinks in all high-sugar solutions.