Osmosis Experiment

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Osmosis Experiment Planning

Introduction

Osmosis is the passage of water molecules from a weaker solution into

a stronger solution, through a partially permeable membrane. 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 tissue,

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

grow in length, and if there is very little difference in the two

water concentrations, there shouldn't be such a big change in length.

If there is a higher concentration of water in the potato, the water

will go out of the potato. Water molecules have random kinetic energy

meaning they move around where they want and wherever they want.

The potato, cut up into pieces, will need some sort of element to

survive, and in this experiment, it would be light and water. With

both of these sources, the potato will keep on working, until it dies

of either lack of water, too much water. When the concentration

gradient is lower in the potato, the water will transfer from the

solution to the potato.

The chip will not continue to grow in size because the cell wall will

stop expanding when all the cells become turgid. When the change in

length is 0 it means that the concentration gradient inside the

cylinder is the same as that outside the cylinder. This is known as

osmotic equilibrium and means that the exact same amount of water

p...

... middle of paper ...

...³ distilled water and 24cm³ 1 molar sucrose, 8cm³

distilled water and 32cm³ 1 molar sucrose and 40cm³ of 1 molar sucrose

were placed into the remaining test tubes. After this a chip of each

length was placed in each tube and sealed with a bung.

After 60 minutes the stop clock was stopped and the test tubes removed

from the water bath and placed into a rack. The bungs were removed and

the chips measured again using callipers. The results were recorded

and the chips placed back into their respective solutions. The tubes

were then placed back into the water bath and the stop clock

restarted. The next day we revisited the experiments at approximately

10 minutes before they had been started the day before. When the clock

read 24 hours we proceeded to again measure the lengths of the chips.

The results were recorded again.

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