| Explore | Osmosis is the transference of salt and water throughout a plant cell. “Water wants to be with salt.” If you have a piece of celery and put it into water, (keepig in mind that plant cells have salt in them), the water in the cup will move into the celery cell thus causing the celery cell, and the celery in general, to gain mass. This is also true vise versa. If you have a cup with salty water and put a piece of celery in the cup then the salty water has a higher concentration of salt than the inside of the celery cell and the water from inside the celery cell will move to the salty water in the cup to try and solve the concentration. If you put celery in salty water the celery becomes dehydrated through osmosis. The salty water pulls out water from inside the cell thus dehydrating the plant. |
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| Research Question | If we have one solution of water with 10% salt, and one solution of water with 0% salt (normal water) and give the two solutions the same amount of water, put a whole celery stem combined with two cut pieces of a celery stem in both of them, then after a day we switch the celery stem/pieces into the other cup then what will happen? |
| Predictions | The celery group in salt will lose mass, height, and width and the celery group in normal water will gain mass, height, and width. Then when they are switched the celery will lose the mass, height, and width they gained or gain back the mass, height, and width they lost and as such in the end will “even out” and will be of the same mass, height, and width after the experiment is over as before it started. |
| Experimental Design | 1. Create 2 solutions of water. Fill the first solution with 400 ML of water and the other solution with 360 ML of water and 40 grams of salt. 2. Get two whole celery stems and cut them to be the same height. 3. Get a 3rd celery stem and cut it into 4. These 4 pieces will be the “celery pieces.” 4. Create grouping “Plain water to Salt water,” this grouping will consist of a whole celery stem and two celery pieces. 5. Create another grouping, grouping “Salt water to Plain water,” this grouping will consist of the other whole celery stem and the other two celery pieces. 6. Record initial measurements that measures the height, width, and mass. 7. Put celery group “Salt water to Plain Water” into the salt water solution and the celery group “Plain water to Salt water” into the normal water solution. 8. After 24 hours take out the celery. In the second row tables (results) record the height, width, and mass of the celery. 9. Switch the celery groups to the other solutions. 10. After another 24 hours take out the celery. In the third row tables (results) record the height, width, and mass of the celery. |
| Conclusion | None of the celery stems/pieces grew. All of them shrank but one. Our logic is that because the celery was in salt water and normal water for the same amount of time and if the 10% salt water solution shrunk the celery as much as normal water grew the celery than the mass, height, and width of the celery would be the same as before the experiment as after the experiment. But that's not what happened, the celery shrunk - and as such the 10% salt water solution shrinks the celery more than normal water grows the celery. Final Conclusion: Through osmosis a 10% salt water solution shrinks celery more than normal water grows celery. Please check out our Planting Science Poster via PDF form in the files section. |
| Investigation Theme | CEL |
| School Name | Loudoun School for Advanced Studies |
| Session | Fall 2020 |