CAPE Unit 1 Biology

Name: Zyarielle Harrison

Lab #:

Title: Water Potential

Aim: To determine the effect of varying concentrations of sucrose solution on the water
potentials of various potato strips.

Introduction: Water potential can be defined as the measure of tendency of water to diffuse
from one area to another. Dilute solutions are said to have high water potentials as they contain
high concentrations of water molecules, therefore, these water molecules are likely to move out
of solution. Similarly, concentrated solutions are said to have low water potentials, meaning that
they have a low number of water molecules, and they are therefore unlikely to move out of
solution.
For example, when a plant cell is placed in pure water, the plant cell swells as water
moves along it’s concentration gradient and into the cell, making the cell turgid. The observed
phenomenon is due the fact that pure water contains more water molecules than cytoplasm in
plant cells, and thus, the water potential of pure water is greater than the water potential of the
plant cell. On the other hand, if a plant cell was placed in a concentrated solution, water will
leave the plant cell and move into the surrounding solution, causing the cell to become flaccid
and possibly plasmolyzed. In this instance, the water potential of the cell is greater than that of
the concentrated solution and the water is simply moving along its concentration gradient.
Water potential is denoted by the Greek letter psi () and at this level, the water
potential of any substance can be calculated by adding the solute potential (s) to the pressure
potential (p). Therefore, the equation for water potential is as follows:  = p + s. It should be
noted that the pressure potential is always a positive value whereas the solute potential is
always a negative value
A hypertonic solution is one which contains more dissolved particles than another
solution or a solution which has a higher solute concentration than found in normal cells and
blood. For example, if substance A has a higher solute concentration than substance B, then
substance A is considered hypertonic. Hypertonic solutions have relatively low water potentials
and therefore, if substance A and substance B were reacted, molecules would move from
Substance B to Substance A. Contrastingly, a hypotonic solution is one which has a lower
number of dissolved particles than another substance or than is found in normal cells and blood,
and therefore water molecules are likely to leave hypotonic solutions as they have relatively
high-water potentials. Isotonic solutions are solutions which contain the same amount of
dissolved solute as another solution, and if these solutions were separated by a semi-permeable
membrane, there will be no net flow of water.

Apparatus & Materials: 6 petri dishes

2 50 ml measuring
2 50 ml measuring cylinders
3 Forceps
Cork Borers of a Small Diameter
Scalpel
Stopwatch
15 cm ruler
Fresh Potato
30 ml each of Sucrose Solutions: 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8% & 1%
30 ml distilled water

Procedure: Six petri dishes were labelled A-F, and places on top of a graph page. Eighteen
potato cylinders were then bored using a cork borer, each cut to 4 cm using a ruler and scalpel.
Three potato cylinders were placed into each petri dish and 30 cm 3 of each sucrose solution was
subsequently poured into its respective petri dish. The stopwatch was started immediately, and
the strips were left in the petri dishes for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes had elapsed, the length
of each potato cylinder was taken using a ruler and recorded in the table below.
 Results:
TABLE SHOWING CONCENTRATION OF SUCROSE USED, INITIAL, AVERAGE, AND FINAL
LENGTHS OF CYLINDERS ONE, TWO AND THREE, AND CHANGE IN LENGTH (%)
Sucrose Length (cm) Averag Change
Concentratio in
e
n (%) Length
Change (%)
Initial Final In
Length
Cylinder 1 Cylinder 2 Cylinder 3 Average (cm)

0.0 4.0 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.4 0.4 10.0

0.2 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 0.3 7.5

0.4 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 0.2 5.0
0.6 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0 0.0
0.8 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.9 – 0.1 – 2.5
1.0 4.0 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.8 – 0.2 – 5.0

Trends: As the concentration of the sucrose solution used increased, the percentage by which
the length of the potato cylinder changed, decreased. The graph is linear and has a negative
gradient which indicates inverse proportionality.

Calculations:

Average Length (cm) =

∑ of lengths of cylinders 1 , 2∧3
Number of Cylinders (3)

Using 4.4 cm as length of cylinder 1, in 0% sucrose solution

Using 4.3 cm as length of cylinder 2 in 0% sucrose solution
Using 4.3 cm as length of cylinder 3 in 0% sucrose solution

( 4. 4+ 4.3+ 4.3)
Average length (cm) =
3

13
=
3
 = 4.3 cm

Average Length−Initial Length

Change in Length in Percentage = ×100
original length
Where average length is 4.4 cm and initial length is 4.0 cm
( 4. 4−4.0)
= ×100
4.0
0. 4
= ×100
4.0
= 10 %
∆Y
Gradient =
∆X
y 2− y 1
=
x 2−x 1
Using the points: (0.10, 8.50) & (0.93, –4.00) from gradient triangle
8.5−(−4 )
Gradient =
0.1−0.93
12.5
=
−0.83
= −¿ 15.06

Graph:
GRAPH SHOWING CHANGE IN LEGNTH (%) VS. SUCROSE CONCENTRATION (%)
12

10

6
Change in length (%)

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
-2

-4

-6
Sucrose Concentration (%)
Discussion: Based on the above graph, which was found to have a negative gradient, it can be
deduced that sucrose concentration and change in length varied indirectly with each other. The
gradient of the best fit line was found by using the points (0.10, 8.50) & (0.93, –4.00) which
were obtained by drawing a gradient triangle. These points resulted in gradient value of −¿
15.06. A negative gradient indicates that sucrose concentration and length are negatively
related or in other words, inversely proportional. As the sucrose concentration increased, the
potato cylinders decreased in length and vice versa. This indicates that as the sucrose
concentration increased, the water potential of the sucrose solutions decreased, and since water
potential is relative, the water potential of the potato cylinders then became larger by
comparison.
Firstly, a hypertonic solution is one which has a higher solute potential and therefore a
lower water potential than another solution. A hypotonic solution is one which has a higher
water potential than another solution, and an isotonic solution is one which has the same water
potential as another substance.
Potato cylinders placed in sucrose solutions 0%, 0.2% and 0.4% all experienced an
increase in length, indicating that water molecules moved from the respective sucrose solutions
into the potato cells of each cylinder. These sucrose solutions and their corresponding length
values resulted in the portion of the graph above the x-axis, as all the corresponding y values
were positive. Each successive set of potato cylinders increased in length by a lesser percentage
as the sucrose concentration was increased. This would indicate that these sucrose solutions
were hypotonic and had relatively high-water potentials and relatively low solute potentials.
Since the sucrose solutions were hypotonic, the potato cylinders were hypertonic at this point
in the experiment, and therefore, it can be said that the positive region of the graph represents
the region in which the potato cylinders were hypertonic.
The greatest increase in length was seen when 0% sucrose solution was used, as the
cylinders in this concentration of sucrose grew an average of 10%. From this, it can be said that
0% sucrose solution (pure water) had the highest water potential of all the solutions as the
largest quantity of water molecules moved from the solution to the potato in this instance.
The potato cylinders placed in the 0.6% sucrose solution experienced no change in
length indicating that the potato cylinders and the sucrose solution had the same water
potential, preventing the net movement of water molecules and thus both the sucrose solution
and the potato cylinders were found to be isotonic in nature. The point of tonicity was found on
the line where y (change in length in percentage) = 0 and it was therefore represented as x-
intercept of the graph.
The potato cylinders placed in 0.8% and 1.0% sucrose solutions all experienced
decreases in length indicating the movement of water molecules out of the potato cylinders and
into the respective sucrose solutions. These negative length values resulted in the formation of
the negative region of the graph. Furthermore, it can be said that the potato cylinders had water
potentials that exceeded that of the sucrose solutions, and thus the 0.8% and 1.0% sucrose
solutions were found to be hypertonic in nature at this point. Since the sucrose solution was
hypertonic, the potatoes cylinders were hypotonic at this point of the experiment, and thus, it
can be said that the negative region of the graph represents the point of the experiment in
which the potato cylinders were hypotonic.
To improve the above experiment, the mass of each potato cylinder should be weighed,
as opposed to measuring solely the length, in order to account for horizontal expansion in the
potato cylinders once placed in their respective solutions. Furthermore, the potato cylinders
should be measured using a vernier caliper in order to get the most precise measurements.

Precautions: In order to avoid varying results, all potato cylinders used were bored from the
same potato and were assumed to have the same thickness and water potentials.
The same cork borer was used when boring all 18 cylinders to ensure all the cylinders
maintained the same width/diameter.
The countdown method was used to ensure all potatoes were left in their respective sucrose
solutions for the same amount of time.

Sources of Error: Parallax error may have occurred when measuring and cutting potato
cylinders and therefore, the slight variance in the final lengths of cylinders placed in the same
concentration of sucrose may be due to this.
Evaporation or oxidation may have occurred after cutting potatoes as there were left exposed to
the environment while the rest of the apparatus was being set up. Any evaporated water may
have reduced the water potential of the potato cylinders, causing error.

Limitations: Though all potato cylinders were taken from the same potato, there is no way of
knowing if the water potential across the potato was constant. Additionally, the potato cylinders
may have increased in width as opposed to length after being left to stand in the sucrose
solutions and the experiment above did not account for horizontal growth.

Conclusion: As the sucrose concentration increased, the water potential of the potato cylinders
decreased, causing the percentage change in length of the length potato cylinders to decrease.