Date: November 6, 2015

Lab Partners: Patrisha Carter, Kylar Hanley, Andrea Jansen, Jordan Johnson
Diffusion and Osmosis Lab
1B: Dialysis Tubing Bags
QuestionWhat are the sucrose molarities of 6 unknown solutions?
The sucrose molarities of the 6 unknown solutions are 0.0 M (distilled water), 0.2M, 0.4M,
0.6M, 0.8M, 1.0M.
VariablesIndependent Variable:
The molar concentration of the solutions in the dialysis bag (0.0M, 0.2M, 0.4M,
0.6M, 0.8M, 1.0M).
Dependent Variable:
Percent change in mass of the dialysis bag.
Constants:
The amount of solution placed in the bag (20 mL) and the beaker.
The temperature was at a constant at 21C.
All of the bags were placed in distilled water.
They were all left in the solution for 20 minutes
Materials and ProceduresSee lab handout
Data TablesGroup Data:
Color

Contents in
Dialysis Bag

Initial Mass

Final Mass

Mass
Difference

Percent
Change in
Mass

Red

0.4 M

26.50- 6.20=
20.30 g

27.65- 6.20=
21.45 g

1.15 g

5.67%

Orange

0.0 M

26.10- 6.20=
19.90 g

25.80- 6.20=
19.60 g

-0.30 g

-1.51%

Yellow

0.8 M

27.30- 6.20=
21.10 g

29.20- 6.20=
23.00 g

1.90 g

10.40%

Blue

0.2 M

27.55- 6.20=
21.35 g

27.90- 6.20=
21.70 g

0.35 g

8.00%

Green

0.6 M

26.70- 6.20=
20.50 g

28.40- 6.20=
22.20 g

1.70 g

2.10%

Purple

1.0 M

28.60- 6.20=
22.40 g

31.10- 6.20=
24.90 g

24.90 g

11.16%

*weight tray = 6.20g

Mean Data:
Dialysis Tubing

Mean (% Change in Mass)

Molarity

Red

5.8 %

0.4

Orange

-1.0 %

0.0

Yellow

10.4 %

0.8

Green

8.0 %

0.6

Blue

2.1 %

0.2

Purple

14.2 %

1.0

Graph-

Analysis Questions1. The molarities of the sucrose determines the change in mass of the bag. More
specifically, as the molar concentration increases the mass will also increase, because it
has a lower water potential allowing more water to permeate into the dialysis bag.
Moreover, the bags with a higher molarity will gain more water, therefore increasing the
mass.
2. The bags with a molarity less than 0.4M would decrease in mass, because the bag
would have a higher concentration of water that the water in the beaker. The bag with a
molarity of 0.4M would stay the same, because the concentration of water would be the
same in the bag and the cup. The bags with a molarity greater than 0.4M would increase
in mass, because the bag has a lower water potential than its surrounding environment.
3. Using the percent change in mass provides us with a basis to compare the values
gathered
by each group, seeing as though each group started with different initial
masses.
4. Percent change in mass = 18-20/20= -2/20 = -10.0%
5. The sucrose solution in the beaker would have been hypertonic to the distilled
water in the bag.

ConclusionThe concentration of the red solution was 0.4M, while the concentration of the orange
solution was 0.0M. In addition, the concentration of the yellow solution is 0.8M, while
the concentration of the green solution is 0.6M. Furthermore, the concentration of the
blue solution was 0.2M and the concentration of the purple solution was 1.0M. We
determined the molar concentration by finding the percent change in mass. Therefore, the
solution with the highest percent change in mass would be matched with the greatest
molarity, 1.0M, and the solution with the lowest percent change in mass would be
matched with the lowest molarity, 0.0M.
A high solute concentration will result in a lower or more negative solute potential
because it increases the value for molar concentration(C) found in the solute potential
formula. This,in turn, will cause a lower water potential. A low solute concentration will
result in a higher or less negative value for solute potential, resulting in a higher water
potential. The high water potentials were located in the beakers with the distilled water.
The low water potentials were located in the dialysis tubing bags with high molar
concentrations. Solutions with high solute concentrations have low solute potential,
which results in low water potentials. From the graph, we were able to gather that dialysis
bags with higher molar concentration of sucrose had more of a positive percent change in
mass, due to their more hypertonic nature. A high solute concentration results in a low
water concentration. Therefore, more water would move into the dialysis tubing bag
because of the low water potential of the bag. As the molar concentration increased, the
dialysis tubing bag had a greater positive percent change in mass.
Throughout the experiment there are several errors that could have been made. For
example, when massing both the dialysis bags and the potato cores we could have taken
an inaccurate measure of mass. This could have had a significant impact on our
experiment, because it would have changed the percent change in mass. Also, in the
experiment the dialysis tubings were not fully submerged in the water, because the cup
was too small. If the tubing was fully submerged in the water, the percent change in mass
would have probably been more drastic. Finally, if the dialysis tubes were not properly
dried, extra mass would have been added. Once again, this error could have impacted the
percent change in mass.
1C: Potato Cores
QuestionWhat is the molar concentration of the solute within the potato core?
The molar concentration of the solute within the potato core is 0.25M.

VariablesIndependent Variable:
The molar concentration of the solutions the potato cores were put into (0.0M,
0.2M, 0.4M, 0.6M, 0.8M, 1.0M).
Dependent Variable:
Percent change in mass of the potato cores.
Constants:
The same type of potato was used throughout the experiment.
The temperature was at a constant at 21C.
All of the beakers had the same amount of solution.
The same number of potato cores were used throughout the experiment (3 pieces
of potato cores).
Materials and ProceduresSee lab handout
Data TablesGroup Data:
Color

Initial Mass

Final Mass

Mass Difference Percent Change

in Mass

Red

10.20- 6.20=
4.00g

9.40- 6.20=
3.20g

-0.80g

-20%

Orange

9.60- 6.20=
3.40g

10.00- 6.20=
3.80g

0.40g

11.76%

Yellow

9.90- 6.20=
3.70g

8.30-6.20=
2.10g

-1.16 g

-43.24%

Blue

9.35- 6.20=
3.15g

9.25- 6.20=
3.05g

0.10g

3.17%

Green

9.75- 6.20=
3.55g

8.35-6.20=
2.15g

-1.40g

-39.44%

Purple

8.15- 6.20=
1.95g

8.25-6.20=
2.05g

0.10g

5.13%

*weight tray = 6.20g

Mean Data:

Potato Cores

Mean (% Change in Mass)

Molarity

Red

-20.1 %

0.4

Orange

17.7 %

0.0

Yellow

-40.1 %

0.8

Green

-34.1 %

0.6

Blue

2.30 %

0.2

Purple

-34.1 %

1.0

Graph-

1D: Calculations and Experimental Data

- Using the equation listed and the molar concentration from the graph in 1C,
calculate the solute potential for the potato.
s= -iCRT
i: ionization constant- number of ions created in the solution
C: molar concentration of solute (moles/L)
R: Pressure constant- 0.0831 L bars/moles K
T: Temperature in Kelvin (K) - 273+ C
s= - (1)(.25 moles/L)(.0831 L*bars/moles*K)(294 K)= -6.10785 bars= -6 bars
- Calculate water potential
Water potential () = pressure potential (p) + solute potential (s)
= 0+-6= -6 bars

Analysis Questions1. The potato cells would decrease in water potential, because they would lose water
molecules to the atmosphere. Less free water molecules would be present due to
dehydration. A decrease in solute potential causes a decrease in water potential and an
increase in solute concentration.
2. The plant cell is hypotonic to its environment. This will result in the cell gaining
water. The plant cell has a lower water potential than its outside environment, meaning it
has a lower concentration of water molecules (higher concentration of solute) than its
environment.
3. The pressure potential of the system is zero.
4. The dialysis bag has the greatest water potential.
5. Water will diffuse out of the bag, because the higher water concentration in the
bag will diffuse to the lower concentration in the beaker.
6. Zucchini cores placed in sucrose solutions at 27 C resulted in the following
percent changes after 24 hours:
% Change in Mass

Sucrose Molarity

20%

Distilled Molarity

10%

0.2 M

-3%

0.4 M

-17%

0.6 M

-25%

0.8 M

-30%

1.0 M

7b. The molar concentration of solutes within the zucchini cells is 0.35M.
8.
a. Calculate solute potential ( s) of the sucrose solution in which the mass of the
zucchini cores does not change.
s= -iCRT
s= -(1)(0.35 moles/L)(0.0831 L*bars/ moles*K)(300 K)= -8.7255 bars= -9 bars
b. Calculate the water potential
Water potential () = pressure potential (p) + solute potential (s)
= 0 + -9 = -9 bars
9. Adding solute decreases the solute potential (s) of the solution. When using the formula
-iCRT, increasing the amount of solute increases the molar concentration(C) of the solution,
resulting in a more negative value for the solute potential.

10. Consider what would happen to a red blood cell (RBC) placed in distilled water:
a. Distilled water would have higher concentration of water molecules.
b. Distilled water would have the higher water potential.
c. The red blood cell would swell and then eventually burst. Because it's hypotonic
to its environment, more water would move into the cell.
11. The grass near roads that have been covered with salt to remove ice die due to their
environment becoming hypertonic. The plants surrounding environment has a lower water

potential than the plant itself because of the higher concentration of salt. This results in the water
to moving from inside the plant to outside of the plant, causing the plant to wither up and die.