Osmolarity: Concentration and Sucrose Solutions

Aim: To find the concentration of a potato cell cytoplasm compared to sucrose and salt. I mainly was looking to see how concentration of salt/sucrose affects the mass of the potato cores.

Purpose: To determine the concentration of solute in the potato’s cytoplasm by measuring the change

The main purpose of the experiment was to test the idea that water would move from the higher concentration to the lower concentration. In order to test this theory, we placed potato slices in 7 different containers, each containing different concentrations of NaCl, to measure the weight change from osmosis. The containers ranged from 0M NaCl all the way to .6M NaCl. We measured the potato slices before and after placing the slices in the solutions and recorded the net change in weight to determine the tonicity of the potato cells. Our results showed that the potato slices put in a NaCl solution of .2M or higher lost weight and the potato slices put in a NaCl solution of .1M or lower gained weight. This shows that the osmolarity of the potato falls within the range of .1M to .2M, and it also proves the process of Osmosis by having the higher concentration move to the lower concentration. In addition to this, it can be concluded that the osmolarity of cells can be determined by observing the affects of osmosis.

How do different concentrations of sucrose solutions (0M, 0.2M, 0.4M, 0.6M, 0.8M, 1M) affect the mass of potato cores when in sucrose solution?

If the concentration of the sucrose solution is increased then the mass of each cube, will also increase, thus the percentage gained will also increase.

In this study we constructed we researched whether different sucrose concentrations affect the rate of osmosis. In order to do this, we constructed artificial cells out of dialysis tubing filled with 20% sucrose and 40% sucrose and weighed them every 10 minutes for 90 minutes. In doing so, we concluded that the higher the sucrose concentration, the faster the rate of osmosis.

Osmosis is defined as the tendency of water to flow through a semipermeable membrane to the side with a lower solute concentration. Water potential can be explained by solutes in a solution. The more positive a number is more likely it will lose water. Therefore should water potential be negative the cell the less likely it will lose water. In using potatoes the effects of the molarity of sucrose on the turgidity of plant cells. According to Clemson University, the average molarity of a White potato is between .24 M and .31 M when submerged in a sorbitol solution. This experiment was conducted with the purpose of explaining the relationship found between the mass in plants when put into varying concentrations of sucrose solutions. Should the potatoes be placed in a solution that contains 0.2M or .4M of sucrose solution it will be hypotonic and gain mass or if placed in .6M< it will be hypertonic and lose mass instead. Controlled Variables in this lab were: Composition of plastic cups, Brand of Russet Potatoes, Brand of Sweet Potatoes and the Temperature of the room. For independent variable that caused the results recorded it was the different Sucrose concentrations (0.0M, 0.2M, 0.4M, 0.6M, 0.8M, 1M). The dependent variable was the percentage change from the initial weighs to the final. The cup with .4 molarity was the closest to an isotonic solution and was used as the control group for the lab. Water potential is the free energy per mole of water. It is

Van’t Hoff’s Law suggests that the osmotic potential of a cell is proportional to the concentration of solute particles in a solution. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if there are any differences between the osmolalities, the no-weight-changes of osmolalities, and the water potentials of potato cores in different solutions of different solutes. The percent weight change of the potato cores was calculated through a “change in weight” method. The potato core’s weight was measured before and after they were put into different concentrations of a solute for 1.5 hours. In our experiment, there were no significant differences from the osmotic potentials of our results and the osmotic potentials of other scientists work. Ending with chi square values of 2.17 and 2.71, and p values of 0.256 and 0.337, concluding that there is no difference in water potentials of potato cores in different solutions of different solutes at varying concentrations.

In conclusion, the potato cube with the highest surface area to volume ratio (the 1x1x1 cube) had the fastest rate of diffusion as it had the largest percentage increase in mass. While all the other cubes of potato had larger increases in mass at face value compared to the smallest cube, the smallest cube had the largest overall gain in percentage. The results support my hypothesis that the smallest cube will have a higher rate of osmosis because it has a proportionally larger amount of surface area compared to its volume.

The aim of the sixteenth of November experiments was to observe how three different solutions with various sucrose concentration influenced osmosis in relation to three onion cells and the impact on the cells structure.

- As the sucrose solution increased, the mass decreased, and as the sucrose solution decreased, the mass increased Evaluation: I followed the plan correctly; I believe I gained accurate and sufficient enough results to conclude the experiment, and to prove my prediction. To make this experiment better, I believe that I could have done more than one experiments to see if anything has gone wrong, but since

However one beaker received 100 mL of Deionized water with a molarity of 0.0. Afterwards a cork borer was pushed through the potato and was twisted back and forth. Once the borer was filled it was removed from the potato. Pushing the potato cylinder out of the borer, this this step was repeated six more times in order to get seven undamaged potato cylinders. Using a sharp razor blade, the potato cylinders were both cut to a uniform length of about 5cm, and were removed of their potato skins. The potato pieces were also cut in half to give the cells a greater surface area in which it was easier to absorb the solution. After the cylinders were weighed on a balance and the data was recorded in Table 4. Using the razor blade each potato was cut lengthwise into two long halves. Then the potato pieces were transferred to the water beaker and the time they were submerged was recorded. This step was repeated for all potato cylinders in which the pieces were placed in solutions 0.1 to 0.6 M. The potatoes were incubated for ninety minutes. At the end of the incubation period the time was recorded. Then the potato piece was removed form the first sample. Next potato pieces were weighed the and the final weight was recorded in Table 4. This procedure was repeated until all samples had been weighed and recorded in the chronological order they were initially placed in the test solution. Afterwards the table was completed by recording the

The chart below shows the % change in mass after being in their concentrated solutions:

1. 5 sucrose solutions were made of increasing molarity: 0.2 M, 0.4 M, 0.6 M, 0.8 M, 1.0M. 2. 50 mL of each unknown solution were poured into 5 separate cups. A slice of potato was placed into 5 equal cylinders. 3. The mass of the 5 potato cylinders were then recorded. 4. The cylinders were placed into the foam cups with solution and covered with plastic wrap. It is to be left overnight. 5. The room temperature was recorded in Celsius. 6. The cylinders are then to be removed from the cups and carefully blotted of any excess solution. 7. The mass of the potato cylinders were recorded afterwards.

Then, each group of students received the necessary materials to complete the experiment. When the students received the cups, they labeled cups to distinguish between the salt solution, distilled water, and control group. After weighing the cups and finding the mass of the cucumbers, the students poured 50 ml of water in one cup, 50 ml of salt solution in the other, and left the control cup empty. Then, the students placed the cucumbers into the cups and waited 30 minutes for the results. After the 30 minutes, the students removed the cucumbers from each solution and dried the cucumbers with paper towels. The students then weighed the cucumbers again and recorded their results. Lastly, the students found the difference from the original mass of the cucumbers and recorded their results.