The Osmosis Gummy Bear

The Osmosis Gummy Bear
Background Research:
If you are thinking that water has filled out the gummy bear then you are absolutely
right. Water has entered into the gummy bear filling in the spaces making it seem
like it grew.
Gummy bears begin their lives as a warm liquid solution of sugars, flavors, gelatin
and water. As this solution cools and water is drawn out from the solution, they
harden into their famous chewy texture. During the drying process the gelatin
intertwines into a solid matrix but not all the water is removed otherwise gummy
bears would be hard and not at all chewy. Gummy bears contain a small amount of
water in them and for purposes of this experiment can be thought of as a solution of
water.
The water in the glass is another source of water with very little dissolved in it. The
gummy bear shaped solution of water has quite a lot dissolved in it. When different
solutions of water come in contact with each other, water will want to move to
balance the difference. Water from the solution with very little dissolved in it will
move towards the solution with a lot of things dissolved in it. This is known as
osmosis. The force that behind the movement of water is called osmotic pressure.
So when a gummy bear is place in a glass of water, it will grow.
Hypothesis:
I hypothesize that the Gummy Bear will increase in size when placed in tap water. I
believe this will
occur because the water surrounding the Gummy Bear will enter it and swell by a
process called
Osmosis. Osmosis occurs when water travels through a membrane from an area of
high
concentration to an area of low concentration. The water will leave the beaker and
enter the
Gummy Bear causing it to gain mass. When the Gummy Bear is placed in salt water
the Gummy Bear
will decrease in size and start to shrink The water will leave the Gummy Bear and
try and balance
the salt water solution in the beaker. As well as variation of the Gummy Bear's
mass.
Materials:
Water
Container(s)
Salt
Tap water
Lab Notebook
Refrigerate; if taste test is intended
Procedure:
Gummy Bear Experiment: Tap Water
One gummy bear osmosis experiment involves soaking gummy bears
overnight in plain water. To complete this experiment, you should first have
students measure the height, width, and depth of the gummy bear, and
record this information in their lab books. Place the gummy bears in cups of
water -- one per student -- and set aside. Then discuss hypotheses -- what do
the students think will happen to the bears? The next day, the bears will
have expanded, as water moved by diffusion through the bear's semipermeable membrane to reach an isotonic state where the concentration of
water molecules inside and outside the bear were the same. Have the
students measure the bears again, and calculate the percentage of growth.
Gummy Bear Experiment: Salt Water

Conduct the same experiment, this time soaking the gummy bears in salt
water. Again ask students to predict the outcome: will the addition of salt
change the outcome of the experiment in any way? If you soak the original,
water-expanded gummy bears in salt water, they will shrink; osmosis will
cause water to leave the gummy bear. However, if you soak new gummy
bears in salt water, they will shrink immeasurably, as the bears' gelatin
construction will cause it to hold its shape and size, for the most part, even
when water leaves the bear.
Conclusion:
My results and research provided me with the knowledge that the mass of
a regular gummy bear is 2.3 grams, the
mass of the gummy bear in the salt water was 1.3 grams so it decreased by 1 gram,
the mass of the tap water gummy bear was 7.5 grams, so the gummy bears mass
increased by 5.3 grams. Also my hypothesis was supported. The gummy bears in
the salt water shrunk and the ones in the tap water grew. The ones in the tap water
grew in size and had like a gelatin like texture. The ones in the salt water shrunk in
size and were covered in cubes of salt, which also grew in size. From what I learned
from our background research is that the gummy bears in the tap water grew
because of some of the ingredients inside which absorb water. The salt water
shrunk them because of well the salt, salt tends to soak up water along with other
things so that is probably why they shrunk. All the salt water gummy bears kept
their size and faded in color along with having a sticky surface, the ones in the tap
water, kept their color but lost their general shape and texture. So again the
hypothesis was supported the tap water caused the gummy bear to grow, while the
salt caused them to shrink.
Bibliography:
http://gummybearosmosis.weebly.com/conclusion.html>
http://philosophicallydisturbed.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/gummy-bearscience/
https://www.google.com/
https://www.google.com/imghp?
hl=en&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=DV6rVMPkNIHRgwTf4oHICg&ved=0CAQQqi4o
Ag

The Osmosis Gummy Bear

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Osmosis Gummy Bear

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Osmosis Gummy Bear

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What is the hypothesis of the experiment?

What are the steps involved in conducting the experiment with tap water?

The Osmosis Gummy Bear

Gummy Bear Experiment: Salt Water

You might also like