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Mosses grow on seed?? (because of the sulphuric acid?)
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:55 am
by josiahai
I'm an Edexcel A level student, n now I'm doing an experiment on how different concentrations of concentrated sulphuric acid affect the germination rate of Saga seeds (which are more commonly found in tropic area) by breaking the dormancy.
And in my experiment, I grow the seeds on cotton wools, after soaking them in concentrated sulphuric acid. After a few days, seeds tat were soaked in more diluted concentrated sulphuric acid have successfully germinated while for those soaked in the more concentrated acid, I saw mosses growing on the seeds.
Any idea why there are mosses on these seeds?
I have to write a report on this and do help me to solve tis q, would be better if any1 of you can provide me with a link, explaining why tis problem occurred.
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:23 pm
by DoubleDogFarm
This is with no support or background.
The high concentrate of sulfuric acid is stripping away all the natural antifungal and dormancy protection. It's opening the cells of the shell coat, witch allows penatration of diseases.
Eric
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:09 pm
by TZ -OH6
It possibly is also killing the seeds and thus providing food for the fungi. When I plant pepper seeds those that do not germinate will mold fairly quickly.
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:12 am
by josiahai
DoubleDogFarm wrote:This is with no support or background.
The high concentrate of sulfuric acid is stripping away all the natural antifungal and dormancy protection. It's opening the cells of the shell coat, witch allows penatration of diseases.
Eric
Tat is just my smart guess, tat is why I need help on this, why there is moss on the seed, just trying to find an explanation for that, to put it in my report
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:55 pm
by DoubleDogFarm
Sulfuric acid is not only hygroscopic in high concentrated form, its solutions are hygroscopic down to concentrations of 10 Vol-% or below. More commonly, a hygroscopic material will tend to become damp and "cake" when exposed to moist air (such as salt in salt shakers during humid weather).
Because of their affinity for atmospheric moisture, hydroscopic materials might necessarily be stored in sealed containers. When added to foods or other materials for the express purpose of maintaining moisture content, such substances are known as humectants.
Materials and compounds exhibit different hydroscopic properties, and this difference can lead to detrimental effects, such as stress concentration in composite materials. The amount a particular material or compound is affected by ambient moisture may be considered its coefficient of hygroscopic expansion (CHE) (also referred to as CME, coefficient of moisture expansion) or coefficient of hydroscopic contraction (CHC)â€â€the difference between the two terms being a difference in sign convention and a difference in point of view as to whether the difference in moisture leads to contraction or expansion.
Read more here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygroscopy
Eric