Potato Osmolarity Lab

My prediction is that as the concentration increases, the potato cell will lose more weight. This is because of the osmosis of water particles from the potato cell cytoplasm to the solution, resulting in a loss of weight. As the concentration decreases, the potato will lose less weight until a certain point where the osmosis of particles in and out of the potato cells will be equal. I also predict that as the salt

Based on the experiment result, it supports my hypothesis that as concentration of sucrose increases the mass of potato will be decrease due to its temper is to make an equivalent concentration between the solution and potato. For instance, in the graph that above shows the first one on x-axis is the highest mass of potato that spent 5 days in distilled water. On the other hand, the fourth one is the lowest mass, which represents 4M sucrose solution of potato. Moreover, the data proves my prediction, as water molecules from higher sucrose solution of potato moves out actively from the potato through semi-permeable membrane into the sucrose solution. In details, the important evidence that supports my hypothesis is then the potato will be shrink

3) The mass of the potato cells would decrease, since the NaCl is a higher concentration than theH20 molecules inside the potato cells. So, the potato’s cells will evacuate and go into the surroundings, making it shrivel. This is known as a hypotonic solution.

Either the solution is hypotonic which means that the solution has a lower concentration than the potato core and this would cause water to flow into the potato and make it larger and therefore increase its mass. The state the cell is in is called turgid.

Water diffuses across the membrane from the region of lower solute concentration (higher free water concentration) to that of higher solute concentration (lower free water concentration) until the solute concentrations on both sides of the membrane are equal. The diffusion of free water across a selectively permeable membrane, whether artificial or cellular, is called osmosis. The movement of water across cell membranes and the balance of water between the cell and its environment are crucial to organisms. ("Diffusion And Osmosis - Difference And Comparison | Diffen"). A semi-permeable membrane known as the cell membrane surrounds the living cells of both plants and animals. Both solute concentration and membrane permeability are

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

out the potato and dry it to ensure excess water is not added to the

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.

The results of this experiment supported only part of my hypothesis. My hypothesis was that the potato in the 0m salt solution would create an isotonic reaction, the potato in the 0.2m salt solution would create a hypotonic reaction, and the potato in the 0.4m and 0.6m salt solutions would create hypertonic reactions. Although the results of the experiment say otherwise. In the 0m salt solution the potato gained mass. The initial mass of the potato piece was 4.79 grams and after it was placed in the solution the potato piece weighed 5.11 grams.

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 potato cells, took in, or gave out the water depending on the concentration of the solution it is surrounded in. The results were fine and by looking at the mass measured before the experiment, you can see that there is no reading which seems to be out of the line. As the weights before the experiment range between 2.31g and 2.46g, this tells us that the potato pieces were cut well, and I believe accurate enough. The results show that: - Osmosis actually took place in the experiment.

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.

Through maintaining a constant room temperature, accurate measurements can be taken without the influence of an additional variable. It is crucial that each cube of potato has the same surface area to volume ratio, as this affects the rate of osmosis; the more surface area, the faster osmosis occurs. Deriving cubes from the same potato enables the passing of water through the cell membrane to remain constant, as a different type of potato may have an alternative concentration of water. Leaving the potato cubes in the sodium chloride (NaCl) solution for 20 minutes each, allowed the water transfer between hypertonic and hypotonic solutions to occur for the most part. Use of 100mL of sodium chloride solution in a 200mL beaker ensures the cubed are completely submerged

Data: Effect of Solute Concentration on Osmosis in Potato Cells (for the 6 groups of our class)

The purpose of this lab is to test the effect of osmosis on cucumber slices. If a cucumber slice is placed in a hypertonic solution, then the mass of the cucumber slice will decrease. Whereas, if