Egg-Mosis Lab

Brenton Hong

Group Members - Liam Rocha, Apollo Regacho,Lukas Soderberg

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1 Hypotheses
Cup 1 - 0% solution ⇒ The egg’s weight will remain constant the longer it is soaked in the 0% solution

Cup 2 - 10% solution ⇒ The Egg will gain some weight the longer it is soaked in the 10% solution

Cup 3 - 20% solution ⇒ The Egg will gain some weight the longer it is soaked in the 10% solution

Cup 4 - 40% solution⇒ The Egg will gain some weight the longer it is soaked in the 10% solution
Strong vinegar smell

2 Observations
2.1 Day 1
- Slimy, slippery texture
- Skin Rubs off easily
- Ovular shape
- Slightly Translucent
- Semi Floating on top.

2.2 Day 2
- Translucent in color
- White Foam near the top of the cup.
- Egg is bubbling → has bubbles on surface
- Elastic like surface,
- Yoke is now visible
- Strong Vinegar smell.

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3 Data
Table 1

Total weight of change of eggs across different sucrose solutions over 40 minutes.

Table 2
Cumulative weight change of eggs across different sucrose solution over 40 minutes

Table 3

Total Weight change of Egg from each sample

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4 Analysis Question
1 - Which of the eggs in this experiment were placed in a hypertonic solution? You must support your answer with
evidence from the lab?

If an egg was placed in a hypertonic solutoin, then the proportion of sugar in the egg would be greater than
the proportion of sugar in the cup. So then osmosis will take place and theoretically, the egg should lose weight
over the 40 minutes observed (Water would diffuse out of the egg). Observe that in Graph 1, the eggs in the
cups with 10%, 20%, and 40% overall were below 0 for all the times recorded, this implies that the egg lost weight
in the total duration. Based of our data, we conclude that the cups with 10%, 20%, and 40% solution are hypertonic.

2 - Which of the eggs in this experiment were placed in a hypotonic solution? You must support your answer
with evidence from the lab.

If an egg was placed in a hypertonic solutoin, then the proportion of sugar in the egg would be lower than the
proportion of sugar in the cup. So then osmosis will take place and theoretically, the egg should gain weight over
the 40 minutes observed (Water would diffuse in to the egg). Observe that in Graph 1, the unkown solution and
the 0% are both mostly above 0 for all times recorded, this implies that the egg gained weight in the total duration.
Based of our data we conclude that the unkown solution and the 0% solution are hypertonic.

3 - What specific process took place during this experiment to cause the eggs to change in weight? Explain
your answer with details from the experiment.

The only way for the egg to change it’s weight is if it were to lose/gain more molecules. Observe that in Graph 2,
in general, as the concentration of Sucrose increases, then the egg will lose more weight. If there was a different
concentration gradient between the the egg and the solution that surrounded it, then osmosis would take place and
both sugar and water would move from low concentration to high concentration. This explains the correlation seen
in graph 2.

4 - Did the sugar pass through the cell membrane? You will need to explain how you know this to be true
and support your answer with evidence from the lab.

Yes, as mentioned above, the only way for the egg to change its weight is if it were to lose/gain more molecules.
The results in Graph 1 and 2 both show this. The egg gaining weight can happen in to ways, if extra solution
was ’stuck’ to the egg when we weighed it or if molecules did indeed pass through the cell membrane. The extra
molecules could not have been ’stuck’ to the egg because we dried the egg with a paper towel before weighing,
however, because the ’skin’ on our egg is so thin, it would make sense that osmosis would happen. So in order for
the results on our graph to be true, the sugar would have to pass through the cell membrane.

5- Using Graph 2, determine the isotonic point of the contents of the chicken egg. Hint: It is where there is
no weight change. Clearly label this point on Graph 2. You should also clearly state the isotonic point here for
question 5 and explain specifically what is happening with the egg at this isotonic point.

In the isotonic point is roughly at around a concentration of 0.18 sucrose. At the isotonic point, the propor-
tion of sugar in the egg is the same as the proportion of sugar in the solution. So osmosis doesn’t happen as the
two concentration are the same and there is no where to ’diffuse to.

6- Using Graph 2, determine the concentration of the unknown solution. Hint: find the cumulative weight change
(gain or loss) of the unknown on the total weight change axis of graph 2 and plot your point on the drawn graph line.
Now draw a vertical line from this point down to the X-axis. This will give you the concentration of the unknown
solution. Be sure to show this clearly on Graph 2. Also, here on for question 6, state the unknown concentration
for solution 5.

Total total weight change of the unknown concentration is +1.1g, then using the regression line on Graph 2,
we estimate that the concentration of the unknown cup is 0.14