How Temperature Affects The Structure Of The Cell Membrane.

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How Temperature Affects The Structure Of The Cell Membrane.

In This Experiment I Will Use Beetroot To Examine How Temperature Affects The Structure Of The Cell Membrane.

The membrane is made of phospholipids and proteins. Proteins have a specific shape and so will be affected by temperature when it goes high, just like enzymes, which are also proteins. Therefore when the temperature gets too high the protein will denature (change shape). All that happens when phospholipids are in high temperature is that they start to vibrate which does not affect the membrane being a consistent barrier. When the proteins denature the membrane will no longer be a consistent barrier, so it will let some of its pink cytoplasm out depending on how damaged it is.
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There will be two variables in this experiment, the independent and dependant variable. The independent variable will be the temperature, which will be controlled, and the

Dependant variable will be the extent of colour change.

Firstly I will use cork borer number 1 to get a cylindrical shape of beetroot, which I will cut to 3cm in length using a scalpel. By using a cork borer I will be ensuring that the surface area is the same each time, meaning there will be the same amount of membrane each time.

I'll then make up ...

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