Factors Affecting the Rate of Osmosis

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Factors Affecting the Rate of Osmosis

Plan

Aim

To find out if osmosis occurs in a potato, and to observe how

different concentrations of a solution affect the rate of osmosis in

the potato.

What Is Osmosis?

Before actually planning the experiment, I will do some research to

find out about osmosis, and matters related to it, so that I can make

predictions and work out a way to make this investigation fair and

safe. Planning ahead would assist me in finding out how to do what,

when to do it etc. This should lead me to good results at the end of

the experiment.

Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a solution of high

water concentration to an area of low water concentration, through a

semi permeable membrane. Below is a diagram illustrating the process

of osmosis:

[IMAGE]

Water potential is the tendency of water to move from an area of

higher concentration to one of lower concentration. This is a main

factor that affects the rate of osmosis, as the higher the

concentration of the water, the more likely it is to move to an area

of low water concentration.

In this case, the tiny holes in the membrane of the potatoes will

allow the water molecules to pass through in and out of the solution

and the potato, depending on the concentration gradient of the two

substances. So in this case, when the water concentration is lower in

the potato, the water will go inside the tissue of the potato, and the

potato will gain weight. If there is very little different in the two

water concentrations, there shouldn’t be such a big change in weight.

And if there is a higher concentration of water in the potato, the

water will go out of the potato. The potato cells will have decreased

in length, volume and mass due to a process called plasmolysis.

The cell is surrounded by water so it absorbs the water making the

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