Investigation 4: Osmosis and Diffusion
Investigation 4: Osmosis and Diffusion Procedure 1: Surface Area and Cell Size Brief experiment purpose and hypothesis : The purpose of this experiment was to discover how cell size and shape can affect a cell’s metabolic effectiveness - essentially, which can diffuse materials in and out at a faster rate. We predicted that a cell with the greatest surface area to volume ratio would be the most effective because it would have a larger area to bring out and in materials into a smaller section of volume. General procedure with materials: Three cubic blocks of agar were cut out using a thin strip of hard plastic. One block had sides of 0.5 cm, another had sides of 1 cm, and the third had sides of 2 cm. Each agar block contained NaOH and the pH indicator dye phenolphthalein, turning the cube a bright purple. Once cut out, each block was placed in a separate petri dish filled with water. A video was taken to analyze which agar cube lost its coloring the fastest through diffusion.