Chapter 3 : Movement in and out of cells

1 Some students investigated osmosis in raw potato sticks.

(a) Define the term osmosis.

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(b) The students measured the mass of four of the potato sticks using an electronic balance.

Fig. 4.1 shows an electronic balance.

Fig. 4.1

The students left each potato stick in one of four different liquids for 5 hours:

• distilled water
3
• 0.1 mol per dm sodium chloride solution
3
• 0.5 mol per dm sodium chloride solution
3
• 1.0 mol per dm sodium chloride solution.

After 5 hours they measured the mass again and calculated the change in mass.
 (i) Predict which of the liquids would cause the largest decrease in mass of a potato stick.

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(ii) The students dried the potato sticks with paper towels before putting them on the
electronic balance.

Suggest why.

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(c) After the experiment the students noticed that the potato stick with the lowest mass was soft
and floppy.

Explain why the potato stick had become soft and floppy.

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(d) The students followed the same experimental procedure with boiled potato sticks and found
no overall change in mass in any of the solutions.

Suggest why the mass of the boiled potato sticks remained the same.

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[Total: 10]
2 A student investigated the diffusion of substances through Visking tubing, an artificial membrane
which has some of the properties of cell membranes.

The student made a bag of Visking tubing as shown in Fig. 4.1.

top of syringe

elastic band test-tube

Visking bag bag filled with starch

starch solution solution
and placed into a
test-tube of water
water
knot

Fig. 4.1

The student added some iodine solution to the water in the test-tube.

After 30 minutes at room temperature, the contents of the Visking bag were stained blue-black, but
the water outside remained a yellow colour.

(a) (i) Explain these results.

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(ii) State three factors that influence the movement of molecules through membranes.

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[3]
3 Some plants can be grown in water using the technique of hydroponics. The roots are in water and
supplied with the ions that they need at the concentrations that support maximum growth. Some
ions can be absorbed both by diffusion and by active transport.

(a) (i) State two features of diffusion that do not apply to active transport.

diffusion moves from high concentration to low concentration while active transport moves
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from low to high concentration
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active transport requires energy while diffusion does not

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water - osmosis , [2]
mineral salt/ion - active transport
(ii) Explain how roots are adapted to absorb ions.
by using root hair cells.
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this cells increase the surface area
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the roots continuously grow to find new sources of ion
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A group of students investigated the effect of soaking small onion bulbs in different concentrations
of sodium chloride solution. They peeled off the outer papery leaves of the onion bulbs and divided
the onions into 6 batches, each with 10 onions.

The onions were surface dried with paper towels and weighed. The mean mass of the onions in
each batch was calculated. The onions were then left in sodium chloride solutions for three hours.

After three hours the students surface dried the onions and weighed them again. Their results are
given in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1

concentration of mean mass of onions / g

percentage
sodium chloride solution before after soaking change in mass
/ g dm–3 soaking for 3 hours
0 147 173 +17.7
25 153 165 +7.8
50 176 172 –2.3
100 154 149 –3.2
150 149 142 –4.7
200 183 175
(b) (i) Calculate the percentage change in mass of the onions that were in the most concentrated
solution of sodium chloride. Show your working. Write your answer in Table 2.1.

[2]

(ii) Explain why the students calculated the percentage change in mass of the onions.
the starting mass for the onions is different
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and to allow valid comparison
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to determine the water potential of the onion
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(c) The students plotted a graph of the results as shown in Fig. 2.1.

20
percentage change in mass

15

10

0
0 50 100 150 200
–5

–10
concentration of sodium chloride solution / g dm–3

Fig. 2.1

(i) Complete the graph using your answer to (b)(i). [1]

(ii) Use the graph in Fig. 2.1 to estimate the concentration of the sodium chloride solution
that has the same water potential as the onions.

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(d) Using the term water potential, explain why the onions:

gained mass when soaked in dilute solutions of sodium chloride

it is due to the movement of water by osmosis through a partially permeable membrane

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onion has lower water potential and sodium chloride has higher water potential
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lost mass when soaked in concentrated solutions of sodium chloride.

onion has higher water potential and sodium chloride has lower water potential
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[4]

[Total: 15]