... 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%. There was also one with 10cm³ of water. Next four discs of the beetroot were placed into each boiling tube. They were then left for about 10 minutes. While this was going on the colorimeter was set up and adjusted with water ‘blank’ to 100% transmission using a blue/green filter. When each sample had been left for a sufficient amount of time some of the bathing liquid was removed from each beetroot sample. It was then placed in the colorimeter. Readings were then taken and recorded.
Results ======= Temp (°C) Transmission (%) 7 80 20 92 40 94 60 19 87 12 Results 1: Alcohol (%) Transmission (%) 0 88 25 54 50 38 75 34 100 24 Conclusion The experiment showed that different temperatures of water had different effects on the permeability of the cell membranes. This was because as the water got heats up it damages the membranes. Using too much heat denatures the proteins, which alters the properties and can close the channels. It cannot be reversed back. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In my results it shows that as the temperature rises to a certain point the transmission increases and then after 40°C the cell membrane starts to be more damaged. In my graph it shows that at 7°C it still has quite a high transmission percentage at 80%. It continues to increase slowly till it gets above 40°C and then it drops from 94% to 19% at 60°C. It goes down to 12% at 87°C. ...
