Explain Why Cells Exposed To Starch
I believe that the reason the cell appeared smaller after being exposed to starch solution was because water molecules move out of the cell because the concentration of water inside the cell was greater than outside the cell. I believe this for a few different reasons.
We were given 3 different explanations to explain why the cells appear smaller after being exposed to sugar water. These include:
That the sugar molecules are not able to enter the cell, but the sugar molecules push on the cell membrane making the cell appear smaller,
That water molecules move out of the cell because the concentration of water inside the cell is greater than the outside, and
Sugar molecules enter the cell and push out water molecules. The cells appear smaller …show more content…
We then weighed the tube. The original weight was 32 grams. We then placed the tube in a cup full of starch solution and let it sit for 24 hours. 24 hours later, we noticed a very small amount of black blue in our starch solution, and no black blue in our dialysis tube. We also noted that the cell appeared smaller. We then dried the tube off and weighed it, the weight was 30 grams. Overnight, our tube had lost 2 grams of mass. Because there was no black blue inside, we can confirm that no starch entered the tube. This eliminates explanation 3, that the sugar enters the cell and pushes out water molecules. Overnight, our tube also lost 2 grams of weight. This can eliminate the explanation that no sugar enters the cell, and no water leaves the cell, but the sugar molecules push on the cell making it appear smaller. Because of these observations, we can confirm that the correct explanation is explanation 2, that water molecules move out of the cell because the concentration of water inside the cell is greater than the outside. This is also a probable explanation because of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water through a semipermeable layer from a high concentration to a low one. Water always behaves this way, and this is what happened with our
We were given 3 different explanations to explain why the cells appear smaller after being exposed to sugar water. These include:
That the sugar molecules are not able to enter the cell, but the sugar molecules push on the cell membrane making the cell appear smaller,
That water molecules move out of the cell because the concentration of water inside the cell is greater than the outside, and
Sugar molecules enter the cell and push out water molecules. The cells appear smaller …show more content…
We then weighed the tube. The original weight was 32 grams. We then placed the tube in a cup full of starch solution and let it sit for 24 hours. 24 hours later, we noticed a very small amount of black blue in our starch solution, and no black blue in our dialysis tube. We also noted that the cell appeared smaller. We then dried the tube off and weighed it, the weight was 30 grams. Overnight, our tube had lost 2 grams of mass. Because there was no black blue inside, we can confirm that no starch entered the tube. This eliminates explanation 3, that the sugar enters the cell and pushes out water molecules. Overnight, our tube also lost 2 grams of weight. This can eliminate the explanation that no sugar enters the cell, and no water leaves the cell, but the sugar molecules push on the cell making it appear smaller. Because of these observations, we can confirm that the correct explanation is explanation 2, that water molecules move out of the cell because the concentration of water inside the cell is greater than the outside. This is also a probable explanation because of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water through a semipermeable layer from a high concentration to a low one. Water always behaves this way, and this is what happened with our