1. For each of the bags, identify whether the solution inside was hypertonic, hypotonic or isotonic in comparison to the beaker solution it was placed in.
Bag #1’s solution was hypotonic compared to the solution of beaker #2. Bag #2’s solution was also hypotonic compared to the solution of beaker #2. Bag #3’s solution was isotonic compared to the solution of beaker #2 and Bag #4’s solution was hypertonic compared to the solution of beaker #1.
2. Which bag increased the most in volume? Why?
Bag #1 increased the most in size because the solution inside was of a higher concentration of sucrose than that of Beaker #2 so therefore the solution of Bag #1 was hypotonic and water moved into the bag from the solution of the beaker at the greatest rate because it had the highest difference.
3. What does this tell you about the relative tonicity between the contents of the bag and the solution in the beaker?
The solution in Bag #1 was hypotonic in comparison to the solution in Beaker #2, which shows that the water from the solution outside the bag moved through the semipermeable membrane to get the higher concentrated solution inside the bag.
4. What would happen if bag 1 is placed in a beaker of distilled water?
It would swell in volume because the solution inside would be hypotonic compared to the distilled water and the distilled water would move into the bag to the higher concentration.
5. Osmosis is how excess salts that accumulate in cells are transferred to the blood stream so they can be removed from the body. Explain how you think this process works in terms of tonicity. The solution of salts inside the cell are hypertonic in comparison to that of the blood stream so therefore the salts move through the semipermeable membrane of the cell to the less concentrated blood stream.