The objective of this lab is to show how diffusion occurs with different types of osmosis. This is done with varying concentrations of solute.
Introduction:
To fully understand this experiment you should have a solid basis of background information on a few a topics. The cell membrane, for example, is the flexible barrier which surrounds the cell (see Figure 1). This organelle controls what is able to enter and exit the cell, which is known as selective permeability. The permeability of a cell membrane affects the concentration gradient between the inside and outside of the cell.
Figure 1: Structure of the cell membrane
A concentration gradient in relation to a cell is the contrast between concentrations divided by the cell membrane. Diffusion has the capability to change the …show more content…
This indicates the hypotonic osmosis occurs. The concentration of the solution outside of the potato cells was higher than the concentration inside the potato. This caused the transportation of the solution towards the lower gradient.
The solutions 0.40mol/L, 0.60 mol/L, 0.80 mol/L, 1.0mol/L lost mass after diffusion. This is due to there being a higher concentration inside of the potato cells than in the glucose solution. The transport went to the glucose solution outside of the potato, which made it hypertonic osmosis.
Through the information from our graph, we can gather information creating conclusions. In the change in mass, there is a specific point where the results become negative, or the point of which the line of best fit crosses the X-axis. This indicates that there is a point where the solution outside of the potato becomes greater than that of inside of the potato. This means that hypotonic osmosis stopped happening and hypertonic began. Without knowing the theoretical molarity of a potato, we would be able to determine that it is between 0.2mol/L and 0.4mol/L, as shown in our