Why does the colour leak out of cooked beetroot?

GCSE: Biology

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Ethanol is a volatile, colorless liquid that has a strong characteristic odor. It burns with a smokeless blue flame that is not always visible in normal light.



Equipment:
• Beetroot
• Ceramic tile
• Knife
• Tweezers
• 2 test tubes
• Test tube racks
• Measuring cylinder 25cm3
• Cuvette
• Pipette
• Colorimeter

Safety
Ethanol: Corrosive and highly flammable. Irritating to skin and eyes. Can be damaging if large amount is splashed into eyes. Intoxicating if ingested. Intoxicating if continuously inhaled for a long period of time.
Knife: Cutting the beetroot, white tile needed and must be cautious of a sharp implement.
Be careful when handling Beetroot as its pigment stains clothes, and try not to get ethanol on skin, as it is skin irritant.
Variables
The amount of Beetroot must be accurate and constant. This is because the results would not average scientifically well and it would not be considered a fair test as a larger amount of beetroot may affect the results.
If the beetroot was left at a longer length of the time in one experiment and then at a shorter time the next, would not be considered accurate or constant. With the beetroot in at a longer length of time eventually the ethanol would have totally destroyed the cell membrane whatever the size of the beetroot or if the beetroot was left in a shorter amount of time, then the ethanol would not have had its full affect on the cell membrane to gain any efficient results from.

Method:
• Firstly leave the beetroot to soak overnight
o using a ruler cut these sections into the following: 8 X 1cm of beetroot in length
• Prepare test tubes for the sections of beetroot
• Label clearly which test tubes contain which ratio of concentration of the ethanol
• Accurately measure with a pipette for the following percentages and correct measuring ratio of distilled water and ethanol
o 0% ethanol 100% distilled water
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