Osmosis Lab Final - Gatorade, Nos, and the Hydration of Cells

Gatorade, Nos, and the Hydration of Cells

1. Introduction

1. Question

Will sports drinks like Gatorade hydrate you more than energy drinks like Nos?

1. Hypothesis

Sports drinks will hydrate you more than energy than energy drinks.

1. Experimentation

1. Materials

• Potato slices
• 6 red solo cups
• Blue Gatorade (300 mL)
• Grape Nos (300 mL)
• Graduated Cylinder
• Electronic Balance
• Ruler
• Notebook
• Pencil

1. Procedures

1. Get six potato pieces that are the same weight and size
2. Separately measure each potato in grams and record your data
3. Label each cup A, B, C, D, E, and F
4. Fill each cup with 100 mL of each solution cup A, B, and C with Nos and cup D, E, and F with Gatorade
5. Place a potato slice in each solution and let sit for 24 hours
6. Carefully empty out the solution in each cup without accidentally losing your potato down the drain
7. Measure each potato (grams) on the electronic balance and record the data
8. Observe the change in weight and record your data
9. Transfer your data into a bar graph

1. Prediction

If sports drinks hydrate you more than energy drinks then the potatoes in the Gatorade solution will grow in mass.

1. Collect and Record Data

1. Data Table

1. Graph

[pic 1]

1. Analyze Data

In this lab, I tested whether energy drinks or sports drinks hydrate your cells more, I claimed that sports drinks like Gatorade would hydrate you more than energy drinks like Nos. I tested this question by soaking potato slices in both Gatorade and Nos for 24 hours and recording the change in their weight. The potatoes soaked in Nos stayed the same, but the potatoes soaked in Gatorade weighed .1 grams more than its initial weight. During those 24 hours, the process of osmosis occurred, which is the diffusion of water across the cell membrane. The results of this lab showed that Gatorade is a hypertonic solution, meaning that more water entered the cell allowing it to hydrate. The results also showed that the Nos drink was an isotonic solution, meaning that the water within the cell and drink were at an equilibrium so no change occurred. The change in weight from the potatoes soaked in Gatorade shows that the Gatorade gave the cells more water and hydrated them, these results proved my hypothesis correct, Sports drinks will hydrate you more than energy drinks.