Background and Hypothesis
During our initial investigations into Paramecia within samples, we noticed a variety of interesting reactionary behavior. Namely, with samples like an Acetate Mix, the paramecia would move much more sporadically and diffuse faster. This diffusion process was characterized by a relative forward velocity, but also a (possibly) Poisson process for changing direction.
However, when exposed to a Inosine Monophosphate Mix, the Paramecium diffusion rate would slow drastically, but also in near immediate moments after being introduced to the mixture. And, uniquely, the Paramecia would then move to the edge of the liquid membrane, and appear to stay there for the remaining trial duration.
For our second experiment, we hypothesized that we would see similar behavior, namely the unique quality of gathering near the edge of the sample membrane. In addition, we expect to see a lack of Paramecia in the Test sample by the end of the trial.
Data Analysis and Results
We recorded the following data:
| Trial | Num of Paramecia | Num in Control | Num in Test | Proportion in Control | Proportion in Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.4 | 0 |
| 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
| 4 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0.857142857 | 0 |
| 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.111111111 | 0 |
| 7 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.111111111 | 0 |
| 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0.333333333 | 0 |
And found the following statistics:
Conclusions
We did see that the expected behavior of Paramecia NOT being present in the Test sample at the end of the trial was true. In fact, in every single trial, there were zero Paramecia in the Test sample at the end of the trial. However, we did not see the expected behavior of Paramecia gathering near the edge of the sample membrane. They would oftentimes cross over to the Test sample, but would not stay there.
In addition, we saw such a high variance in our results that we cannot confidently determine if our hypothesis was correct. For example, in Trial 2 and Trial 5, there were zero Paramecia in both the Control and Test samples at the end of the trial. They did appear to slow in diffusion rate, but they also appeared to be moving in a more linear fashion, rather than diffusing outwards in all directions.
note: I asked during lab if I could use alternative program to Word, as I have “optimized” my workflow to such a point I deeply struggle to get anything done with anything besides LaTeX (ridiculous!)
Please let me know if this format is alright, if not, I am happy to redo/never do this again!