Charlotte wants to model a cell process she is learning about. She has two raisins, each measuring 3 mm in width. She places one raisin in a glass of fresh water and one raisin in a glass of salt water. After five minutes, she measures the width of each raisin and records her data on a table.

Question

Draw conclusions about Charlotte’s investigation. Choose the two statements that apply.
a. The raisin in salt water expanded because there was a lower concentration of particles in the water than in the raisin.

b. The raisin in fresh water expanded because there was a higher concentration of particles in the water than in the raisins.

c. The raisin in salt water shrunk because there was a higher concentration of particles in the water than in the raisin.

d. The raisin in fresh water shrunk because there was a higher concentration of particles in the water than in the raisin.

e. The raisin in fresh water expanded because there was a lower concentration of particles in the water than in the raisins.

Answer 1

The correct statements based on the principles of osmosis are:

c. The raisin in salt water shrunk because there was a higher concentration of particles in the water than in the raisin.
This is true because when the raisin is placed in salt water, the water inside the raisin moves out into the salt water, which has a higher concentration of solutes (salt) compared to the inside of the raisin. This leads to the raisin losing water and shrinking.

e. The raisin in fresh water expanded because there was a lower concentration of particles in the water than in the raisins.
This is also true because when the raisin is placed in fresh water, the concentration of solutes inside the raisin is higher than that of the fresh water. Water moves into the raisin, causing it to swell and expand.

So the two statements that apply are c and e.