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achiles's picture

Lab 4: Anna and Kalyn

The following report is on an experiment involving testing Einstein's theory of Brownian Motion using microspheres in water. Upon beginning testing Einstein's theory, we hypothesized that the smaller the diameter of the microsphere (2 microns, 4 microns, or 8 microns), the higher the degree of movement the microspheres will have in the water. Our findings support ours and Einstein's hypotheses.
The microspheres with a diameter of 2 microns, when viewed under an objective of 40x, were seen to move in a vibrating motion at a fast pace. Some moved a small distance from their original positions.  
The microspheres with a diameter of 4 microns, also seen at 40x, were visibly moving bu only at a slow "floating" pace.
The microshperes with a  diameter of 8 microns, seen at 40x, were almost stationary.
In conclusion to part A of the experiment, all empirical evidence suggests that Einstein was onto something with his theory of Brownian Motion. The randomly moving water molecules do, in fact, move the microspheres at a similarly random pace. The smaller the microspheres (and the mass the water molecules have to move), the faster the pace at which the body moves. 
  In part B of this experiment, we observed the effect of water and salt, hydration and dehyration, of the skin of an onion, which is approximately one cell layer deep. We observed the skin in 3 different solutions: distilled H2O, NaCl (1%), and NaCl (25%). Each solution represented a different concentration of salt: 0%, 1%, and 25%. Using the microscope, we made observations regarding the structure of the cell in each solution. The following is a summary of our observations:

In the low concentration (1%) of NaCl, we observed the cell membranes increasing in size.

In the higher (25%) concentrated NaCl, the cell membranes exhibited an apparent "shrinking." The cell walls, however, stayed put.

In the distilled H2O, the cell membranes swelled again.

The first observation we made in class consisted of water's interaction with dye. By altering the temperature of water the dye interacted with the water's molecules at different rates depending on the water's temperature. The skin of the onion when interacting with either salt or water generated a swelled or shrunken cell membrane.  When submerged in H20, the cells swelled because water was entering the cell. When submerged in the NaCl (especially higher concentration, the cell was dehydrated and water left the cell, producing a shrunken membrane.

For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Perhaps it is because there are more salt molecules to bump against the cells of the onion skin, the cell membrane shrinks to form a stronger barrier.

A way to test this would be to heat up the 1% NaCl before adding it to the skin of the onion. Because the temperature of the solution would increase the speed of the movement of the water molecules, perhaps the cell membrane would react more strongly and shrink at a greater rate in order to "protect" itself from the salt molecules.

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