Egg Diffusion Lab

Looking at the class data, the mass and circumference of the egg increased when placed in the deionized water and decreased when placed the sugar water. The change occurred because of the solution's attempt at balancing the concentration of macromolecules in and out of the egg. The egg contains large amounts of solute compared to the deionized water solvent. Water than diffused into the egg to make the concentrations of solute equal, causing the egg to enlarge. When placed in the sugar water there was a higher concentration of solute outside of the egg, so the solvent, water, diffused out of the egg to balance out the concentration. The result was a deflated looking egg with a lowered mass and circumference.


A cells interior environment can change as its exterior environment changes. This could be to maintain homeostasis, or internal conditions of an organism. When the cell was put in vinegar first, and then water, and then either deionized water or sugar water. This caused the egg to diffuse water many times, either in or out of the cell.

This lab was all about the scientific principle of diffusion and osmosis. Diffusion is a cell letting molecules in and out of the membrane. It demonstrates this by showing how water can move in and out of a cell when the environments between them vary.

Fresh vegetables are sprinkled with water so they will absorb that water making it more juicy and to preserve freshness. Roads are salted to melt ice, but causes plants on roadsides to dry up. They dry up because their is a higher concentration of salt outside the plant, so it will loose water to try and balance out that concentration.

Another experiment that could be made based off this experiment and what we learned, could be an experiment about molecules diffusing across a cell membrane. The previous experiment was about how water diffuses across the membrane, so this experiment will teach us about how molecules diffuse.