Preview

Finding the concentration of a Potato cell.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2918 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Finding the concentration of a Potato cell.
Aim

The aim is to find the concentration (mole/dm3 (M)) of solute in a potato cell by using the process of osmosis and different concentrations of sucrose solution.

Background information

Osmosis is diffusion of water across a partially permeable membrane. It moves from a solution with less solute concentration (high water potential) to a solution with more solute concentration (low water potential). The one with a high water concentration is called a hypotonic solution and the low water concentration is called hypertonic solution, but these only depend on what type of concentration is on the other side of the partially permeable membrane. When more water passes through to one side of the membrane it is called net movement.

(Toole + Toole "Essential AS level Biology")

This is an example of the net movement through a partially permeable membrane. The right side is the more dilute solution, which makes it the hypotonic solution. The left side is the less dilute solution, which makes it the hypertonic solution. Net movement occurs through the more dilute to the less dilute so it goes from left to right though the partially permeable membrane. As you can see, the dotted line going horizontally through the middle of the two levels of solution shows the level of the solutions at the beginning when the two sides where given equal amounts of its solution. The horizontal solid lines show the level of the two sides after it was left for 2 hours. The right side has more solution in it because of the greater net movement of water going to the right from the left side by the process of osmosis.

(Marveen "GCSE Biology")

This diagram is of two liquids separated by a partially permeable membrane. The left side has large molecules of solute that has dissolved (hydrated), therefore attracting other water molecules to it and reducing the water potential; it is called the hypertonic solution. On the right side there is less solute to attract the water molecules to it and so it

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    BSC2085L Anatomy Quiz 1

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Osmosis is the net diffusion of water across a membrane from a region of high concentration to low…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This overall flow of water from a dilute area of high water potential to a more concentrated solution of low water potential across a partially permeable membrane is called osmosis. I predicted that the swede cylinders which are put in a test tube with a low potential of sucrose solution would become turgid because the water molecules that are present in the swede will move away from an area of higher potential of water molecules to an area that has a lower potential of water molecules, this means that the swede sample will gain mass and become full almost to an extent where it is ready to burst. The swede samples that are going to be put in a test tube with a high potential of sucrose solution will become flaccid because the swede cylinder will have a higher potential of water molecules and so these molecules will diffuse into the sucrose solution as it has a lower water potential, this means that the potato sample will shrivel and loose mass.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Biolab 1208 Lab Report

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The purpose of this experiment is to calculate the mass/change in mass of plant tissue, in our case potato tubers. The change in mass of the potato tuber disk determines the osmotic concentration. After soaking the potato tubers in different concentrations of sucrose, then calculating the percent change in mass, we can determine the osmotic concentration. The…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Purpose: To determine the concentration of solute in the potato’s cytoplasm by measuring the change…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Both diffusion and osmosis work with the concentration gradient. In osmosis, water can travel in three different ways. If the molecules outside of the cell are lower than the concentration in the cytosol, the solution is said to by hypotonic to the cytosol, in this process, water diffuses into the cell until the cell is once again at an equilibrium. If the molecules outside of the cell are higher than the concentration in the cytosol, the solution is said to be hypertonic to the cytosol, and water diffuses out until equilibrium exists. If the molecules outside of the cell are equal then it is isotonic to the cytosol and there is no net movement of water.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The shrinking of ANIMAL cells that are placed in a HYPERTONIC solution is called crenation.…

    • 892 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This experiment gave a visual understanding of osmosis and diffusion. The first experiment proved that solutes would move down a concentration gradient if permeable to the selective membrane. The second experiment proved different solute concentrations affect the movement of water, depending on the solute concentration inside the cell. The purpose of this lab was to look for different solutes that can cross an artificial membrane and to observe the effect of different concentrations of sucrose on the mass of a potato cell. Results for Part One suggested that the molecular weight of albumin and starch was too large to pass through the dialysis tube, but glucose and sodium sulfate molecules were small enough to pass through the dialysis tube. Also, a decrease in water weight occurred due the dialysis tube being placed in a hypertonic solution. Results for Par Two showed the potato cell having a molar concentration of 0.2734, which caused sucrose concentrations above 0.2 M to have a decrease in mass. Inversely, sucrose concentrations below 0.2 M caused an increase in mass.…

    • 2179 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Brounian movment

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages

    If a cell is placed in an isotonic solution, the cell will maintain its normal volume because no osmotic pressure is occurred. A hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of solutes than the interior of the cell. For that reason, a hypotonic solution will cause water to flow into the cell, as the concentration of solutes inside of the cell is higher. In a hypertonic solution, the solutes…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Now imagine that the cell is placed in a solution of water that has a lower concentration (of water) compared to the concentration of water inside the cell. In this case osmosis will cause more water to move out of the cell than will move in the cell and the cell will shrink. In this case, we say that the solution is “hypertonic”.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Beta Vulgaris Lab Report

    • 2024 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Since NaCL cannot cross the Beta vulgaris membrane, water will move into the Beta vulgaris membrane at a low concentration of NaCL, making the solution hypotonic, then out of the membrane as the concentration of NaCL increases, making the solution hypertonic. (Sadava, Heller, Hillis, and Berenbaum 2011)…

    • 2024 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Potato Osmosis Lab

    • 3353 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Aim To observe and measure the effect of osmosis on the mass of potato using a starch solution. Introduction In order to measure the effect of osmosis, eighteen pieces of potato were cut and placed in six groups, each group of three pieces cut to weigh as close as possible to one another. For each potato group, a test tube was half filled with a starch solution varying in concentration from 0% (water) to 1%. Hypothesis…

    • 3353 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Osmosis And Diffusion

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Osmosis is the diffusion of a solvent across a selectively permeable membrane that occurs in response to differences in solute concentrations (Allen and Harper 2014).Osmosis can fall under the category of passive transport which does not require energy. With osmosis being a type of diffusion it is viewed as molecules moving from a high concentration to a low concentration. To further explain if there is a low water concentration, high amounts of solutes will be present. Water will most likely move to areas where the solute concentration is high, which demonstrates why there would be less water concentration.…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diffusion or osmosis occurs until dynamic equilibrium has been reached. This is the point where the concentrations in both areas are equal and no net movement will occur from one area to another. If two solutions have the same solute concentration, the solutions are said to be isotonic. If the solutions differ in concentration, the area with the higher solute concentration is hypertonic and the area with the lower solute concentration is hypotonic.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Osmosis Lab

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The diffusion of water across a semi-permeable membrane is called osmosis. When water diffuses, the water molecules move from a hypotonic environment to a hypertonic environment. Hypotonic means less concentrated than another solution. Hypertonic means more concentrated than another solution. If two solutions have equal concentration, they are said to be istonic…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Osmosis Lab Report

    • 2530 Words
    • 11 Pages

    INTRODUCTION: In order to fully understand the concept of this experiment, one must first be introduced to diffusion. Diffusion is a spontaneous process by which molecule particles move from one area that is highly concentrated to another area in which its concentration is lower. Cells contain fluids and are surrounded by fluids; in order for a cell to function it is required to be in a balanced state. The progress in which a cell is in its balanced state is called equilibrium. Diffusion is a functioning way for cells to reach their equilibrium. Equilibrium is reached by controlling what enters and exits the cell through a cell membrane that selectively filters molecules by slowing down their movement, allowing them to pass through, or not allowing them to pass through the membrane. Diffusion and osmosis go hand-in-hand. Osmosis is generally the same as diffusion, however, deals solely with water. Osmotic pressure is the pressure of a solution against a semi-permeable membrane to prevent water from flowing into the membrane. In this lab, we are going to study tonicity; tonicity is the measure of this osmotic pressure and is the differential of pressure between two solutions separated by a selective membrane. To help identify the relative concentrations of solute particles of different solutions, we must understand that there are three possible differences in concentrations between a cell and its environment. The terms hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic are used in referring to the identification of the possible relative concentrations. The first term, hypotonic, is the solution that contains lower concentrations of solute particles, which means that the concentration inside the cell is greater than the concentration outside. A hypotonic solution causes the cell to swell in size. The second term, hypertonic, is the solution that contains higher concentration of solute…

    • 2530 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics