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The Effect of Water Temperature and Alcohol Concentration on Membrane Permeability

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Downloads to date: N/A | Words: 850 | Submitted: 2010-01-24

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Beetroot cells contain a red sap, which leaks out of the cells if
their membranes are damaged or altered. Cell membranes are made up of
a bilayer of phospholipids, which also contains proteins. Which either
float around or are fixed. Some are found in the inner or outer layer
and some span the whole membrane Carbohydrate chains attach themselves
to the external membrane forming glycoproteins and glycolipids. It
also contains cholesterol. We will be able to tell how damaged they
are because we will see a deeper coloured red in the water from where
more of the red sap has leaked out of the cells.

Method A fresh cylinder of beetroot was taken and using a scalpel any
skin was removed. Care should be taken when a scalpel is used to cut
objects into small pieces. It was then cut into 40 discs using the
scalpel. Next the discs were placed in a boiling tube and rinsed
repeatedly in till the water ran clear. Then two sets of five boiling
tubes were set up into racks. Then using a measuring cylinder measured
10cm³ of tap water was placed in five of the boiling tubes of the set
that would be testing the effect of different temperatures. These were
then left in the different water baths to adjust to the temperature.
The other five had 10cm³ different concentrations of alcohol ranging
from 25%-100%.
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