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characteristic red/purple colour. If a cell is damaged in a beetroot plant and the membrane is broken, the anthocyanin 'bleeds' from the cells like a dye. It is this characteristic that can be exploited to test which conditions affect the integrity of the cell membrane.
Because we are experimenting with the effects of temperature on the membrane, we will place the samples of beetroot into a water baths of varying temperatures and measure the colour change in the water. Temperature is just one of the possible variables. Others include effects of poisonous substances such as alcohol and/or various solvents. The dependant variable (DV) in this experiment is colour change in water caused by anthocyanin leakage. Hypothesis
An increase in temperature will damage and denature the plasma membrane and cause the cytoplasm and other substances contained within the membrane to leak out. The increases the permeability of the membranes. This will lead to an increase in the rate of diffusion.
A...