Osmosis And Diffusion Lab Report

You may be wondering what diffusion, tonicity, osmosis and semipermeable membrane is. I’ll start off by explaining semipermeable membrane. A semipermeable membrane relates to the dialysis lab #1 because in dialysis tubing is considered semipermeable barriers. Semipermeable membrane is a membrane that allows passage of some particles but not others. (Lab manual)
Diffusion on the other hand, is a form of passive transport where particles move down their concentration gradient from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration. Osmosis is the diffusion of water, water diffuses against the concentration gradient of the particles. Similarities in osmosis and diffusion is that they both equalize the concentration of the two solutions into a membrane. Osmosis and diffusion both work together to move water molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. The
There are 3 types of Tonicity: hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic. Hypotonic tonicity is when the tonicity of a cell is greater than that of the surrounding liquid. In a Hypotonic solution water will flow into the cell, causing it to swell up like a balloon. (a&p book) Hypertonic is when the tonicity of the cell is lower than that of a surrounding liquid. In a hypertonic solution a cell will lose water by osmosis and as it does, the cell shrivels and dehydrates because there is higher concentration outside the cell. Isotonic is when the tonicity of the cell is equal to that of the surrounding liquid. Cells retain their normal size and shape in isotonic solutions. The relationship of tonicity and osmosis: by comparing the tonicity of the solution you can determine in which direction osmosis will occur. Osmosis represents the diffusion of water across a semipermeable membrane while tonicity relative solute concentrations of two environments separated by a semipermeable