Facilitate Diffusion And Osmosis

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.

An example of active transport would be pushing a stroller up a hill. Passive transport is diffusion across a membrane requiring only random motion of molecules with no energy expanded by the cell. Another example of passive transport would be rolling a ball down a hill.

As the lab introduction explains, osmosis is relatively permeable to water and will follow solutes. By instinct, the water will move from a more diluted solution to more of a concentrated solution. The products of the experiments concluded the physiological significance of osmosis by how cell membranes in the body are semipermeable meaning that only certain molecules can pass through it. When intracellular fluid and extracellular fluid are at equilibrium by non-penetrating and concentrated solutes, no net movement of water goes in and out of the cell. Furthermore, if the ECF changes in osmolality, then depending on the difference between the ECF and ICF will determine whether water moves in or out of the cell. This is important in the cell membrane as small differences in osmolarity correspond to large, rapid change in osmotic pressure, causing cells to gain or lose water. In sum, our body makes critical decisions in what molecules are allowed to penetrate the cell membrane and make sure that our red blood cells don’t cause any problems within the

Osmosis is described in one of three ways when comparing more than one solution. The cell’s external and internal environment helps determine tonicity, which is defined as how the cell reacts to its environment. When the cell’s environment is equal in osmolarity to itself and there is no change, it is considered an isotonic solution. When the environment has a higher osmolarity, shrinkage occurs and it is considered a hypertonic solution. When the environment has a lower osmolarity, swellings occurs and it is considered hypotonic.

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.

diffusion is one of the passive transport processes. it is used in oxygen entering a cell and carbon dioxide leaving a cell. diffusion is the movement of particles such as atoms or molecules from a high concentration place in an area of a low concentration. this shows that they diffuse down the concentration gradient. the concentration gradient is a gradual change in the concentration of solutes in a solution as a function of distance through a solution. in biology a gradient results from an unequal distribution of particles across the cell membrane. When this happens solutes move along the concentration gradient until the concentration of the

The concentration of dissolved substances is greater in the extracellular fluid than in the cytoplasm. Hypertonic Solution Concentration of dissolved substances (solute) Concentration of water (solvent) What happens to an animal cells? Inside the cell Less Greater Outside the cell Greater Less Membrane

The difference is that along with large molecules, living cells prevent molecules with positive charges and solubility. This is not representing in dialysis tubing, and is only found in living cells because the tubing is only based on molecular size (98). When referring the rate of diffusion, the concentration gradient influences the diffusion rate, based on the factors of temperature. The ability for molecules diffuse from high to low concentrations primarily depends on the concentration gradient between the two areas.(96-99). My hypothesis for the study is that in the hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic solutions, the direction and rate of osmosis will determine based on the concentration inside the dialysis tubing. My prediction is 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.

There are four types of passive transport; diffusion, facilitated diffusion, filtration and osmosis. Active transport is not passive as it requires energy to move substances against the concentration gradient.

Osmosis is a process which molecules of a solvent pass through membrane from a less concentrated area to a more concentrated area until it equalize the concentration on both side. Isotonic, hypertonic, hypotonic solutions can be generally used to compare concentration of a solute in two solutions. Hypertonic solution is when one of two solution has a higher concentration of a solute and we call this type of solution plasmolyzed. Isotonic solution is when both solutions have the same concentration of solute and we call this type of solution flaccid cell. Hypotonic solution is when one of two solution has a lower concentration of a solute and we call this type of solution turgid cell.

Passive transport can occur during osmosis and diffusion. During osmosis, water molecules diffuse down a concentration gradient from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration through a selectively permeable membrane (Harley et al., 42-44). Tonicity refers to the relative concentration of solutes in a solution. They can be labeled as isotonic, hypotonic, or hypertonic. Isotonic solutions have the same concentration of solutes inside and outside of the cell.

Exercise 1: Cell Transport Mechanisms and Permeability: Activity 3: Simulating Osmotic Pressure Lab Report Pre-lab Quiz Results You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly. 1. Which of the following is true of osmosis? You correctly answered: c. It is a type of diffusion. 2. Which of the following occurs when a hypertonic solution is added to cells? You correctly answered: d. The cells shrink. 3. The variable that affects osmotic pressure is You correctly answered: a. the concentration of nondiffusing solutes. 4. The net movement of water would be into the cell in a You correctly answered: b. hypotonic solution.

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

Osmosis is a special type of diffusion. It is the diffusion of water across a semipermeable membrane which is a membrane that is freely permeable to water but is not freely permeable to solutes, the water moves from a dilute solution to a more concentrated solution (Karp, 2010). Both diffusion and osmosis are passive transport, energy is not used in the transport. In osmosis water moves across a membrane toward the solution of greater concentration, because the concentration of water is lower there (Martini and Bartholomew., 2007).

Osmosis is the movement across a semipermeable membrane from a lower concentration to a higher concentration. Hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic help describe the type of osmolarity of a cell. Hypertonic means the water moves out of a cell to the higher solute which will make the cell shrink. Hypotonic means the water moves in the cell to the higher solute which will make the cell swell. Lastly, isotonic means the water moves in and out of the cell at the same rate, making the cell about equal size to what it was originally.