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    Beetroot cells are coloured red because they contain a red dye called anthocyanin

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    Introduction

    Beetroot Experiment Beetroot cells are coloured red because they contain a red dye called anthocyanin. In beetroot cells there red anthocyanin pigment occurs in the vacuoles. A membrane called the tonoplast surrounds each vacuole. The cytoplasm and vacuole is surrounded by the plasma membrane. The function of a cell membrane is to control the movement of material into and out of the cell. The tonoplast does the same job for the vacuole. The two main components of any membrane are proteins and fats. The anthocyanin can only be released and leak out of the cell if the membrane are broken or damaged. The anthocyanin diffuses out of cells. Diffusion - gases move about at random and will move about at random and will move from where they are in high concentration to where they are in lower concentration. Temperature has an affect on membranes. If the temperature is too hot the membrane changes shape, and makes holes it is damaged and the anthocyanin leaks out, the more damage the more leakage. If the temperature is too hot it denatures the proteins and enzymes. The higher the temperature the more kinetic energy, the energy is given to the atoms and they begin to vibrate. They vibrate faster and faster and bang off each other, causing the structure to break. ...read more.

    Middle

    Results Temperature % of transmission of light (?C) 1st 2nd 3rd 30 99 94 99 40 89 94 98 50 98 96 97 60 76 70 60 70 84 92 27 80 4 4 2 My graph firstly is high in percentage transmission of light with low temperature, and then it drops dramatically to a low percentage transmission of light with a high temperature. High temperatures can make the membrane change shape and be damaged this is proved by my results and graph. The higher the temperature the more kinetic energy, the energy is given to the atoms and they begin to vibrate. They vibrate faster and faster and bang off each other, causing the structure to break. This allows the anthocyanin to leak out this has happened in my experiment. The dip at the end is because the beetroot membrane has been damaged severely so no more anthocyanin could be released or leak out of the cell and diffuse. The shape of the graph tells me that the proteins and enzymes are denatured by the temperature at point 4 (60?C). Looking at the graph point two (40?C) looks to be anomalous as it does not follow the trend of the rest of the graph, if it was to follow the trend the point would have been approximately 95.5%. ...read more.

    Conclusion

    The apparatus was not the most accurate we could have used. For example we could have used a cutting device to cut the beetroot as there could be possible human error if doing so by hand. The water baths were not kept constant at one temperature so it could make the results inaccurate. As we had to take the cork borers out one by one so there was slight time differences between each sample. As we were using stop watches it made it more reliable although there was lots of room for human error. The colorimeter's screen was very difficult to read so perhaps a bigger screen or a digital colorimeter would have been more accurate. I would use up to date apparatus if I was to change things or if I was to do this experiment again. I feel my results are very accurate and reliable. The results do vary slightly but not very much there is an obvious pattern between them. I have one anomaly at point 3 but it didn't up set my results too much. If I was to do this again I would change the amount of time we had to do it and keep the samples in longer for better results and not be limited on the equipment by having up to date machines and apparatus. I am very sure that my results are reliable as they followed my previous theory. ...read more.

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