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The effect of temperature on membranes

Temperature (oC) Overall % of transparency


0 100
10 92
20 88
30 80
40 75
50 70
60 60
70 35

The effect of temperature on membranes

120

100
% of transparency

80

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Temperature (o C)

Independent variable: Temperature (oC)


Dependent variable: % of transparency
Control variable: length of beetroot used

Description of results:
As it can be seen from the graph, as temperature increases, the % of transparency
decreases. Between 0oC and 60oC, it can be seen that the % transparency decreases
steadily and at an almost constant rate. Furthermore, between 60oC and 70oC the
percentage transparency almost halves from 60% to 35%.

Explanation of results:
As the temperature increases between 0oC and 60oC, the vibrations of the
phospholipids in the bilayer increases as well, therefore larger gaps in the bilayer are
formed and thus the root pigment is allowed to escape inside the water solution, that’s
why the % transparency of the solution decreases. When temperature increases from
60oC to 70oC, the vibrations of the phospholipids get more intense so there are now
even more larger holes in the bilayer and the proteins and enzymes get denatured.
Thus, the solution becomes even more red and the % transparency decreases at a
higher rate.

Conclusion:
As temperature increases, % transparency decreases because of the vibrations of the
phospholipids which cause the red pigment to leak out in the solution and turn the
solution redder.

Errors carried out:


The main source of errors is that when the beetroot was to get cut into 1 cm length,
the beetroot was wet and slippery and we were not very accurate due to the fact that it
was very difficult to manipulate them. This decreases the validity of our results.
Also, when we tried to achieve a specific temperature, in some cases the incubator
was not used and we tried to maintain the temperature with ice cubes. In this way,
there was the chance of not keeping the temperature constant at the wanted
temperature.

Improvements that could be done:


We could repeat the experiment more times, and the temperature intervals instead of
being every 10oC to be every 5oC. So repeat experiment in smaller temperature
intervals. Also we could use for all of our repeats, incubators in order for all
temperatures in the experiment to be constant. In this way, the experiment would
have bee more valid and accurate. Finally, the beetroot used was a packaged one and
to make the experiment more reliable, fresh beetroots could be used.

Risk assessment:
We were gloves and lab coats in order to avoid any juices of the beetroots (the red
pigment) to come in contact with our clothes as this kind of stain is difficult to be get
rid off. Also, we were wearing goggles and the area where we cut the beetroot was a
special one in order not to scratch the benches.

Elina Psara

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