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Molecular Biology Science Fair Project

Egg Weight Changes in Salt Water

Easy
Egg Weight Changes in Salt Water | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Does an egg gain or lose weight when you leave it in salt water for a day? Osmosis (the movement of water through a membrane) predicts that water flows toward the side with more dissolved material. You place three eggs in beakers of distilled water, light salt water, and heavy salt water. After 24 hours, you weigh each egg again. The egg in plain water gains weight. The eggs in salt water lose weight, and the one in the saltiest solution loses the most. The eggshell membrane acts like a filter, letting water pass but blocking the salt.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that water will pass through the shell of an egg, to the side that has a solution of higher concentration.

Method & Materials

You will label 3 eggs and 3 beakers, fill each beaker with 400ml of water, and add different amounts of salt to each beaker. You will then place the eggs in the beakers and leave them for 24 hours.
You will need 3 eggs, 1200ml of distilled water, 300gram of salt, 1 measuring cylinder, 3 beakers, 1 weighing machine, 1 spatula, 3 pieces of styrofoam cut to beaker size, and 1 black permanent marker pen.

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Results

The results showed that the weight of the egg placed in distilled water had increased, while the eggs placed in salt water had decreased in weight. This proved that the hypothesis was correct - water will pass through the shell of an egg to the side that has a solution of higher concentration.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it demonstrates the process of osmosis, which is an important process for living organisms. It also has practical applications, such as water purification and water recycling.

Also Consider

Variations of this science project could include using different soluble materials like sugar or syrup, or repeating the experiment at different temperatures to see if temperature has any effect on the osmosis process.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

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