AP Biology Lab- Osmosis

OBJECTIVES

• Investigate the processes of osmosis and diffusion in a model of a membrane system

• Investigate the effect of solute concentration on water potential as it relates to living plant tissues

EXERCISE 1- Working in groups of 4

1. Obtain 6 strips of dialysis tubing (about 16 cm long) that have been soaking in water and tie a knot in one end of each.
2. Pour approximately 10 ml of each of the following solutions into separate bags. Two of you will be working with 3 of the
solutions the other two will be working with the other three solutions.
Distilled Water 0.4 M sucrose 0.8 M sucrose
0.2 M sucrose 0.6 M sucrose 1.0 M sucrose
3. Remove most of the air from the bag (but leave a little bit of space) and tie the baggie.
4. Rinse the baggie carefully in water to remove any sucrose that may have spilled and carefully
blot.
5. Record the mass of each baggie and record.
6. Fill six 9 oz cups about 50 ml of distilled water and place a bag in each of them. Make sure
that you record which baggie is which.
7. Let the bag sit for 20-30 minutes. (While this is running, you may want to begin exercise 2.)

Prediction: Predict what you think will happen during the experiment.
(Think about which bags will lose water and which will gain water.)

The higherthe sucroseconcentrationthehigherthegainin mass

concentration
GLowerthegain inmass
Thelowerthesucrose
8. After 20-30 minutes, remove the baggies from the water and carefully blot them dry.
9. Measure the mass of each baggie and record it.
10. To calculate: percent change in mass = (final mass-initial mass)/ initial mass. Multiply the answer by 100.

11. Gather the data from the other groups in the class and find the class average for each baggie and graph
results. You will need a line for your data and a separate line for the class average.

Contents of Bag Initial Mass Final Mass Mass Difference % Change in Class Average
Mass
Distilled Water
9.9g 10.0g 0.1g 1.01 1.43
0.2 M
10.4g 11.3g 0.9g 8.65 8.771
0.4 M
8.0g 9.2g 1.2g 151 11.49
0.6 M
86g 10.0g 1.4g 16.28 18.39
0.8 M
9.2g 10.8g 1.6g 17.391 26.21
1.0 M
9.1g 11.59 24g 26.37121.8.1
 Ethan

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FOR EXERCISE 1

1. Explain the relationship between the change in mass and the molarity of sucrose within the dialysis bag.

2. Predict what would happen to the mass of each bag in this experiment if all the bags were placed in 0.4 M
sucrose solution instead of distilled water. Explain your response.

3. Why did you calculate the percent change in mass rather than simply using the change in mass?

4. A dialysis bag is filled with distilled water and then placed in a sucrose solution. The bag's initial mass is 20
g, and its final mass is 18 g. Calculate the percent change of mass, showing your calculations. Can be
completed at bottom of the worksheet.
EXERCISE 2 - Determining the Water Potential of Potato Cells

In animal cells, the movement of water into and out of the cell is influenced by the relative concentration of solute on either
side of the cell membrane. If water moves out of the cell, the cell will shrink. If water moves into the cell, the cell may swell
or even burst. In plant cells, the presence of a cell wall prevents the cells from bursting, but pressure does eventually build
up inside the cell and affects the process of osmosis. When the pressure inside the cell becomes large enough, no
additional water will accumulate in the cell even the though cell still has a higher solute concentration than does pure
water. So, the movement of water through the plant tissue cannot be predicted simply by knowing the relative solute
concentrations on either side of the plant cell wall. Instead, the concept of water potential is used to predict the direction in
which water will diffuse through living plant tissues.

In a general sense, the water potential is the tendency of water to diffuse from one area to another under a given
set of parameters. Water potential is expressed in bars, a metric unit of pressure equal to about 1 atmosphere, and
measured with a barometer. Water potential is abbreviated by the Greek letter psi and has two major components:

In Figure 1.1, a potato cell is placed in

pure water. Initially, the water potential
outside the cell is 0 and is higher than
the water potential inside the cell (-3).
Under these conditions, there will be a
net movement of water into the cell. The
pressure potential inside the cell will
increase until the cell reaches a state of
equilibrium.

Directions:

1. Use the potato corer to core out 3 pieces of the potato. Slice the potatoes into 3 equal lengths about 2.5 cm
long. Determine the mass of the 3 potato cylinders together and record in the data table.
2. Repeat this step 5 more times. Pour 40 ml of each of the sucrose solutions (it will be the six solutions listed
above in Exercise 1) into each container of your aluminum foil trays.
3. Label on a piece of paper towel which tray is which. Don’t write on trays.
4. Place the potato cylinders into the cup with your assigned solution and cover them with plastic wrap. Leave
overnight. Your teacher will tell you where to put them. Make sure your initials are on them.
5. Remove the cylinders from the beakers and carefully blot off any excess solution. Record the room
temperature in Celsius.
6. Determine the mass of the 3-potato cylinder together and record.
7. Calculate the % change.

Contents of Bag Initial Mass Final Mass Mass Difference % Change in Class Average
Mass
Distilled Water

0.2 M
8.1g 9.3g 1.2g 14.811 11.171
7.9g 8 1g 0.2g 2 531 0.101
0.4 M
8 5g 1.0g 11.761
7.5g
Iiii
0.6 M
0.8 M
8.7g 7.1g 1.6g 18.39.1.24
1.0 M 8 3 18 30.761
 Potato Sucrose Morality

data
Class
only

7. Graph the results for the class averages above. In order to do so, the 0-axis line should actually be in the middle of your
graph. The y-axis above this line should be labeled % increase in mass while the y-axis below this line should be labeled
% decrease. The x-axis is the sucrose molarity within the beakers.

8. Determine the molar concentration of the potato cores. This would be the sucrose molarity in which the
mass of the potato core does not change. To find this, draw the straight line on your graph that best fits your
data. The point at which this line crosses the x axis represents the molar concentration of sucrose with
a water potential that is equal to the potato tissue water potential. At this concentration, there is no net
gain or loss of water from the tissue.

What is the Molar concentration of the cores? __________

 9. Calculate the solute potential for the sucrose solution from step 8 using the formula. Show Calculations!

C
Temp 23

10. Explain water potential and describe how it affects osmosis.