The Science of the Spud

Introduction: This lab was intended to determine if there were differences in water and carbohydrate content between white potatoes and sweet potatoes, and if they affected osmotic potential, and cause the potatoes to differ in their isotonic point in sucrose solution. Osmosis is a form of diffusion in which water diffuses through a selectively permeable membrane from region where they are in a high concentration to a region where their concentration is lower. White potato tubers contain 79% water content and 17.9% carbohydrates, but only 1-3% of the carbohydrates is water-soluble sugars, while 15% is starch. Which starch is only slightly water- soluble, and has much less influence on osmosis that sugars.

An anomaly will be that when the mass of the potato was measured for 6% of sugar solution, the mass at time 5minutes was high then it decreased sharply at times 10 minutes to time 20 minutes this shows that the pressure with which the potato shrunk made the potato less rigid which made the cell membrane of the potato start shrink from the cell itself therefore causing the mass to decrease, also from 20% to 60% of sugar solution was used the mass of the potato decreased sharply as time went on which also shows that the cell membrane of the potato has plasmolysed which shows that the cell membrane has pulled away from the cell which shows with the shrinkage of the potato.

Potato skins are a relatively new dish of food that has very little history to their making. They are commonly served as an appetizer at restaurants, but can also be made at home for snacks or dinner plates. Because they do not have a deep history or cultural value throughout the United States, it might be best to look back throughout the years to see ways in which the simple potato, the primary ingredient required to make potato skins, has been transformed and used leading up to the creation of the potato skins.

Potatoes first originated in South America and were later introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers. Now, potatoes have become an important staple food item to have in the kitchen. They are packed with more energy than any other vegetable. A potato is made of potassium, vitamin C, fiber, starch, water, and fat. The concentration of each component is as follows: 18% starch, 78% water, 2-5%protein, and 1% fat.

From these experiments, the results shown in the table and graph below show that the 30-350 potato produced the most O2 being 7.5ml, followed by the 2-50 potato that produced 6.9ml or 0.6ml less O2 than the 30-350 potato and last the Room temperature 25-300 potato producing only 6.5ml of O2 over the 20 minute period.

The potatoes were much less concentrated with water than the molar solutions that they were put into, so the water from the solution entered into the potato to even out the concentrations (Krane, 2014). My results were a bit different from what I expected, however. This could very well be as a result of human error. I could’ve tried to cut the potato slices at more of the same mass in order to control the experiment a little bit better and give equal amount of opportunity for the potato slices to lose and gain water.

The Potato crop is one of the world’s most important food crops. It has played an important historic role throughout Europe and continues to be relied upon by the masses today. Potatoes are naturally nutritious and reliable as a crop. However, as with the cultivation of all crops, there are some negative environmental impacts. The potato can endure many environments and can be sustainably grown around the globe. This crop continues to have a vast impact on society.

Did you know that you could make your own battery? Batteries are the most common source of electricity. This is true especially for the smaller electrical devices that need electrical power to work. Not all batteries are the same. They are categorized by their voltage. Batteries are also categorized by their electrolytes.

The Effect of Sodium Chloride, Glucose, and Sucrose on Potato Tissue By Rachel Thurmes ABSTRACT This experiment examined the water potential of white potatoes, and compared them to those previously recorded. The validity of van’t Hoff’s Law was also tested by using different solutes in which to test the potatoes. This was done by measuring potato core weight before and after soaking them in solutions of different dissociations, and determining the percent weight change. Then van’t Hoff’s Law was used to calculate the water potential of the potatoes.

Within this experiment we could verify the passage of water from a region of high concentration through a region of a lower concentration for when the potato was surrounded by a concentrated environment (lower water potential) the potato lost mass, and when it was surrounded by a dilute environment (higher water potential) it gained mass.

The history of electricity had little if any advancement for many years since the time of Thales. In fact it was nothing more than thought and curiosity until the 1600’s. It was at this point English scientist “William Gilbert made a careful study of electricity and magnetism, distinguishing the lodestone effect from static electricity produced by rubbing amber. He later coined the new Latin word electricus meaning (“of Amber” or “like Amber”)” (Stewart 2001). We skip ahead another century to the times of such great minds as Otto von Guericke, Robert Boyle, Stephen Gray, C. F. du Fay, and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin conducted extensive studies and performed hundreds of experiments. He even went as far as to sell off many of his own possessions in order to fund his work. Meanwhile it was in of June 1752 that he has been reputed to have attached a metal key to the bottom of a dampened kite string and had flown the kite in a storm threatened sky (Srodes, James, 2002). By doing so he had sparks jumping from the key into the back of his hand, he had thus proved that

This is because the higher the molar of the sugar, the more water will escape from the potato strip in order to achieve equilibrium.

This causes them to buckle outward increasing the size of the gap (stomatal aperture) between them. When the stoma is open the plant takes in CO2 during the day for photosynthesis. However turgidity is not only used in stomatal activity. It is an important part of the plant’s structure, giving it strength to stand on end without which the plant would simply wilt.

I have always been passionate and enthusiastic about electronic devices and gadgets. While I was young, I wondered how do they actually work and what gets them started when connected with a power supply. I started experimenting with the electronic circuitry inside such devices in my school labs with tutors who taught me the basic ideology of electronics and this ignited my curiosity further.

The outer shell of electrons that orbit the nucleus of an atom is called the valance shell. This is what makes a copper atom conduct. For a copper atom the number of electrons is one. When a charge of electricity is placed in the end of a wire the electrons move into the wire. Since there is only one electron in the valance shell of a copper atom it can be easily dislodged with a small amount of energy causing it to jump to the next atom. This will then cause the valance electron of that atom to jump to the next atom and so forth. This movement happens very fast making it possible for a large number of electrons to move through the wire. An example of a conductive atom is shown figure 1.