ImbibitionGroup 1 - Lorenzo Daniel L. Antonio, Paolo Carlo Calalang, Timothy Carandang, Oneil Joshua Calderon, MHAB1

Submitted to: Ma’am Elena M. Ragragio

Submitted: September 20, 2012

Introduction

Imbibition is the uptake of liquid by hydrophilic surfaces accompanied by swelling. Imbibition may take place in both living and non-living things and cells. To test the imbibition of substances, materials like wood, rubber, and corn seeds are used and put in kerosene or water.

Objectives

The objective is to determine the rate of imbibition of various materials, and the effect of solvents on imbibition.

Hypothesis

Water will be absorbed well by wood. Kerosene will be taken up well by rubber.

Methodology

Materials: Pieces of wood and rubber

Corn seeds

Kerosene

Water

Procedure:

1. Get two pieces of wood and rubber. Individually weigh the pieces of wood and rubber.

2. Weigh 2 sets of 10g of corn seeds

3. Get 2 beakers. Put in one beaker 1 piece of wood, rubber and 10 g of seed and put enough water to immerse these three materials. Place in the other beaker 1 piece of wood, rubber and 10g of corn seeds. Immerse these materials in kerosene.

4. Allow to stand for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, using a spatula, take out the wood, rubber and seeds immersed in water and kerosene and gently blot dry.

5. Get the final weight of each material. Record the results and find the difference in weight.

Results:

Table 11.4.1. Effects of Solvents on Imbibition

Medium Imbibant Initial Weight Final Weight % addition in weight

Water Wood 2.5g 2.9g 16%Rubber 1.8g 1.8g 0%Corn Seeds 3g 3.1g 3.33%

Kerosene Wood 1.6g 2.0g 20%Rubber 1.7g 2.5g 47%Corn Seeds 3.4g 3.6g 6%

Results show that wood is a good imbibant of water, increasing 16% between the initial and final weight. Wood and rubber are good imbibants of kerosene, with wood immersed in kerosene increasing by 20% in weight, and rubber increasing in weight by almost half. Corn seeds have fairly the same results comparing kerosene and water. Rubber immersed in water didn’t add weight at all.

Discussion

Imbibition is the uptake of liquid by hydrophilic surfaces accompanied by swelling. Imbibition may take place in both living and non-living things and cells, as shown in the experiment. Rubber can take up kerosene even when it’s non-living. The difference in results between water and kerosene as solvents is because that water is polar while kerosene is non-polar.

The corn seeds may not have absorbed as much water or kerosene as it was immersed for only 90 minutes, but the process of imbibition is important in seed germination for the breaking of testa or seed coats.

References

http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/plant-water-relations/imbibition.php