Egg Diffusion Lab

In this lab, we put two eggs that had been soaked in vinegar and then water, into deionized water and sugar water (corn syrup). We left the eggs in the two liquids for a couple of days. We were testing to see how the egg would do in a hypertonic and hypotonic solution. We were asking how and why does a cell's internal environment change, as it's external environments changed.

The eggs that were in the water had changed 9.52% in mass on average and 16.85% in circumference on average. The eggs that were in the corn syrup had changed -44% in mass on average and -26.68% in circumference on average. The eggs in the water had expanded because of diffusion. The eggs in the water had too much solvent (water) in the solution so it tried to balance themselves out. The solvent from the water had diffused into the egg. The eggs in the water shrunk because there was too much solute (corn syrup) in the solution. The solvent from the egg had diffused into the water to balance out the solute in the corn syrup.

The cell's internal environment changes as its external environment changes because it needs to maintain homeostasis or keep themselves balanced. The molecules moving from high concentration to low concentration (moving from outside the cell into the cell through the membrane) is called passive diffusion, which requires no effort at all. The molecules moving from low concentration to high concentration (moving from in the cell to the outside of the cell) is called active transport because it requires a lot of energy and effort by the cell.

In class, we learned a lot about diffusion and solvents and solutes. This lab helps demonstrate exactly what each of them are. The solvent in the egg or water diffuses into the other. It shows what diffusion actually looks like.

Vegetables at markets are sprinkled with water to prevent the water that is in the vegetables from diffusing out. Also, the salt that people put on the road to melt the ice can affect the plants nearby. Salt absorbs water and the water in the plants will diffuse out of the plant because of the salt.

Based on this experiment, I would like to see how the eggs will do in other solutions. It would be fun to see multiple solutions instead of just water and sugar water. Also, I would like to see what would happen with some plants or even meats instead of just an egg. I wonder how those would turn out.