A Basic Understanding of Diffusion and Osmosis Essay

Cells and molecules in the environment are constantly moving and changing, for cells to function properly there is a need for equilibrium to be met. The size of the cell and the solution outside of the cell affects the rate of diffusion and osmosis in the cell. Cells are constantly trying to reach an equilibrium with the molecules and substances around it, which is why there are such terms as: hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic. The procedures allowed testing of whether or not surface area or volume increased diffusion and how different substance control diffusion. Cells are constantly moving to reach equilibrium through diffusion and osmosis.

If the solution in the left beaker contained both urea and albumin, which membrane(s) could you choose to selectively remove the urea from the solution in the left beaker? How would you carry out this experiment?

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to familiarize you with osmosis and, specifically, what happens to cells when they are exposed to solutions of differing tonicities.

5. Experiment: Click Reset. Check that the Solute outside is 10 and the Initial cell volume is 40%. To calculate the solvent concentration, divide the number of solvent particles by the total number of particles, and then multiply by 100. (Note: The Gizmo only displays the solute concentrations.)

This is an individual study investigating the process of diffusion, osmosis and active transport. To start you should know that substances are moving in and out of cells of your body all the time. To understand and make sense of the cells of your body, you need to know about the process of diffusion, osmosis and active transport.

Table 1 shows the contents of the bags and the content of the concentration it was submersed in. Bags 2-4 each contain a solution of both sucrose and water. These bags were each put into beakers containing hypertonic solution. These bags gained weight over time because the water moved from its high concentration inside the beaker to the low concentration inside the membrane of the artificial cell, the membrane being the bags that consisted of dialysis tubing. The

The hypothesis states that if the solution is hypotonic the results will decrease, if the solution is hypertonic the results will increase and if the solution is isotonic the solution will vary and or remain constant. In order to test the predictions of the hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic hypothesis for the solution  made during the study,  four samples of sucrose were taken and placed into two different beakers each containing a different concentration. Then dialysis tubing A was placed into beaker 1 with B, C, and D placed into beaker 2 for 45 minutes and weighted at 15 minute intervals. My finding in the study was that each of the four samples changed from their initial weight and for the most part accurately proved the hypothesis.

The reasoning behind this experiment is the examine whether the rate of osmosis is changed due to a change in temperature. It was hypothesized that the rate of osmosis will increase as the temperature of the sucrose is increased. The rate of osmosis was tested by using the different jars full of different temperate water and testing how high the water rose on an osmometer over a span of 20 minutes. An osmometer is a tool used to measure rates of osmosis. The different temperatures tested on a sucrose solution were 5 degrees Celsius, 20 degrees Celsius, and 37 degrees Celsius. Rates of osmosis were higher in the hot water than in the cold water and control. The results showed that the rate of osmosis increased as the temperature increased, henceforth the hypothesis was supported. In conclusion, the experiment showed how changes in temperature affect the rate of osmosis.

The following hypothesis was made in regard to effect of the concentration gradient on the rate of diffusion: The higher the concentration gradient, the faster the rate of diffusion.

4. Take a piece of dialysis(as cut earlier), find the mass of the dialysis, and the zero out the scale on

Diffusion and Osmosis Experiment with a Shell-Less Egg After Three days of Testing Methods with Water and Corn Syrup

Osmosis is a special type of diffusion where water molecules move down a concentration gradient across a cell membrane. The solute (dissolved substance) concentration affects the rate of osmosis causing it either to speed the process up or slow it down. Based on this, how does different concentrations of sucrose affect the rate of osmosis? If sucrose concentration increases in the selectivity-permeable baggies, then the rate of osmosis will increase.

Cells are always in motion, energy of motion known as kinetic energy. This kinetic energy causes the membranes in motion to bump into each other, causing the membranes to move in another direction – a direction from a higher concentration of the solution to a lower one. Membranes moving around leads to diffusion and osmosis. Diffusion is the random movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration, until they are equally distributed (Mader & Windelspecht, 2012, p. 50). Cells have a plasma membrane that separates the internal cell from the exterior environment. The plasma membrane is selectively permeable which allows certain solvents to pass through

All cells contain membranes that are selectively permeable, allowing certain things to pass into and leave out of the cell. The process in which molecules of a substance move from an area of high concentration to areas of low concentration is called Diffusion. Whereas Osmosis is the process in which water crosses membranes from regions of high water concentration to areas with low water concentration. While molecules in diffusion move down a concentration gradient, molecules during osmosis both move down a concentration gradient as well as across it. Both diffusion, and osmosis are types of passive transport, which do not require help.

The beaker was then filled partially with distilled water; 1 ml of potassium iodide was then added, and the solution was tested for the presence of glucose. This data was recorded in table 1 on the data sheet along with the starting color of both the potassium iodide solution and the glucose/starch solution. The dialysis tubing was then submersed into the beaker containing the potassium iodide solution, and set aside for 30 minutes to allow maximum diffusion.