Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

Osmosis Inquiry Lab

Challenge:

Pick one of the following factors and design a procedure to test how the factor is correlated to Osmosis.

Factors:

1. Food Type (apples, potatoes, grapes)

2. Size of food

3. Shape of food (surface area)

4. Concentration of solute (use either salt, or sucrose)

5. Type of solute (salt, sucrose, glucose)

6. pH of solution (distilled water, vinegar, bicarbonate)

7. Temperature of solution

8. Time food sits in solution

Controls- Distilled water, cup size, amount of solute in each solution, time of potato in solution

Independent Variables- The type of solute in the solutions

Dependent Variable- Mass of potato

Hypothesis:

Due to the higher concentration of water inside the potato, the water will diffuse to outside the potato, to the less
concentrated solution with sugar and salt, causing the potato to lose weight.

Procedure:

1. Get Materials-
a. Five 300mL Beakers
b. 1tsp of table salt (NaCl)
c. 1tsp of sucrose (C12H22O11)
d. 1tsp of glucose (C6H12O6)
e. 1tsp of sea salt
f. Water
 Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

g. Stirring stick
h. Balance
i. Potato
j. Towels (for mass)
k. Timer

2. Make 5 different solutions-

1. Fill beaker to 300mL of water as a control

2. Add 150 mL water to the beaker. Mix in 1 tsp NaCl (table salt) until dissolved. .
3. Add 150 mL water to the beaker. Mix in 1 tsp C12H22O11 (sucrose) until dissolved.
4. Add 150 mL water to the beaker. Mix in 1 tsp C6H12O6 (glucose) until dissolved.
5. Add 150 mL of water to beaker. Mix in 1 tsp of sea salt until fully dissolved.

3. Weigh the potatoes. Record the initial weight in the data table below

4. Add one piece of potato to each one of the 5 solutions.

5. Get your timer out. Each potato piece needs to be in the solutions for 20 minutes.

6. Once the time is up, carefully take the potato pieces out of the solutions and place them onto the towels.

7. Next weigh the potatoes

8. Calculate the amount of weight gained after soaking for 20 minutes. The more weight gained, the more osmosis
has taken place. The equation for percent mass change is (massF-massI/massI) Record data below.

Data Table:

C12H22O11 (Trial 1) 0.8g 0.9g 0.1g 12.5%

C12H22O11 (Trial 2) 0.8g 1.0g 0.2g 25%

C12H22O11 (Trial 3) 0.8g 0.8 0.0g 0%

C6H12O6 (Trial
1) 0.7g 0.9g 0.2g 28.6%

C6H12O6 (Trial
2) 0.9g 1.0g 0.1g 11.11%

C6H12O6 (Trial
3) 0.8g 0.9g 0.1g 12.5%

Sea Salt (Trial 1) 0.7g 0.7g 0.0g 0%

Sea Salt (Trial 2) 0.7g 0.7g 0.0g 0%

 Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

Sea Salt (Trial 3) 0.8g 0.8g 0.0g 0%

Graph of Results:

(test with distilled water)w

Solute Molar mass of Initial Weight Final Weight Weight Difference Percent Change
solution ?? (g) (g) (g)

NaCl .241 M 0.9g 0.3g 0.6g -66.7%

Sea Salt .241 M 0.8g 0.4g 0.4g -50%

C6H12O6 .078 M 0.7g 0.4g 0.3g -42.9%

C12H22O11 .0401 M 0.7g 0.3g 0.4g -57.1%

We did not use distilled water the first round of trials.

This is the test using distilled water. You can see the
different solutions and how the color and
transparency differs from cup to cup depending on
what substance is dissolved in the water. The potato is
sitting in the bottom of the cup.
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

We tested how salts and sugars dissolved in water affects osmosis of fluid into a potato.

This is an overview of our experiment, showing when the potatoes were soaking in our solutions for the 20 minutes.
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

These four images are

what our set up looked like in each cup. These were all the third test.

You will need to know the following concepts:

1. Passive v Active transport

Passive Transport: the movement of molecules across a cell membrane without the use of energy along the
concentration gradient. (Facilitated and simple) diffusion (the net movement of particles with the help of transport
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

proteins), filtration and osmosis are examples of passive transport. Usually, passive transport does not require the
use of a membrane protein.

Active transport: the movement of molecules across a cell membrane against the concentration gradient. Particles
move from areas of lower concentration to areas of higher concentration. This requires a carrier protein. The
energy required for active transport is supplied through ATP by respiration. An example of this is the uptake of
glucose in the intestines in humans.

Proteins: transmembrane proteins act as transporters, including carrier proteins (active transport) and channel
proteins (passive transport). Carrier proteins create an opening in the membrane by changing when they bind to the
molecule. Channel proteins form hydrophilic pores on the membrane and when they are open, they allow specific
molecules to pass through. Transport proteins allow for proper distribution of ions and molecules, and they help
maintain proper pH levels and allow for communication between cells.

http://www.sparknotes.com/biology/cellstructure/cellmembranes/section3.rhtml

2. Osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of water particles from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration.

Osmotic pressure: the pressure that would have to be applied to a pure solvent to prevent it from passing into a given
solution by osmosis, often used to express the concentration of the solution.
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

https://pmgbiology.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/osmosis_1.png

3. Membrane structure and protein channels and how they affect movement of water and particles

The phospholipid bilayer: (lipids-fats/oils) has a hydrophilic, polar head and two hydrophobic, nonpolar tails. The
head has a phosphate group. The fatty acid tails are composed of a string of carbons and hydrogens. It has a double
bond structure. It is impermeable, which means that it does not allow molecules to pass freely across it. Only water
and gasses can easily pass through. Large molecules and small polar molecules cannot cross it without the help of
other structures like proteins.

https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8fb6cf5e68bf69bf4bbe1334aaea6b31?convert_to_webp=true

Protein channels: a protein that allows the transport of specific substances across a cell membrane. Remember that a
protein is a biological macromolecule made up from a menu of 20 different amino acids and that the sequence of
those chains determines the specific shape and function of the protein.

http://www.study.com/academy/lesson/channel-protein-definition-function-quiz.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/biology/cellstructure/cellmembranes/section1.rhtml
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

4. How to make solutions

Hypertonic Solution: Solute concentration higher than cell

More dissolved particles outside of cell than inside of cell
Hyper = more (think hyperactive); Tonic = dissolved particles
Water moves out of cell into solution
Cell shrinks
Hypotonic Solution: Solute concentration lower than cell
Less dissolved particles outside of cell than inside of cell
Hypo = less, under (think hypodermic, hypothermia); Tonic = dissolved particles
Water moves into cell from solution
Cell expands (and may burst)
Isotonic Solution: Solute concentration equal to that of cell
No net water movement

https://www.biologycorner.com/APbiology/cellular/notes_cell_membrane.html

5. How to plan and carry out a controlled experiment

make a procedure
create a hypothesis
Create controls that will remain constant for the entirety of the experiment.

6. Notes from video

Our body has many cells, and each cell is vital in its own way. The cell membrane represents the initial
entrance to our body do the first damage to the body will be. Cell membrane is also called the plasma
membrane, to look at this you need a microscope. Hydrophobic tails point inward because they do not like
water, whereas hydrophilic is the outward of the phospholipid because they are water soluble. Cellular
transport- the processes
Cellular transport is active pushes chemicals through membrane, Passive transport- only uses kinetic energy
to move around, is divided into three categories; osmosis, diffusion, and facilitated Diffusion. Iso-osmotic
solution, hyperosmotic higher concentration hyposmotic lower concentration of solute solution. Selectively
Permeable -All cells are enclosed with a cell membrane. A selectively permeable cell membrane is one that
allows certain molecules or ions to pass through it by means of active or passive transport. Water molecules
move from inside to outside to gain equilibrium. Facilitated diffusion through membrane with help from
transport proteins specific for that. Facilitated diffusion involves proteins without the need for energy.
Isotonic same concentration. Hypertonic more solute, less h2O. Hypotonic-less solute;more H2O, more
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

Presentation:

1. Take notes in your science notebook. (notes are in the document)

2. Take pictures and video of your experiment while in progress

3. Create a short PowerPoint presentation according to the attached Osmosis Rubric. You should have a slide per
section on the rubric.

4. We will have a "science fair" like day where groups will rotate around to learn about each experiment and how
the factors are correlated to Osmosis as presented by the class data.

5. You are expected to participate fully and collaborate with your group. You will be asked to complete a self
evaluation at the end of this lab.

Conclusion

Title and Abstract: contains a summary of the problem, a hypothesis, and a summary of the results
This lab observed the process of osmosis. Through observing the diffusion of water in/out of a potato using
different solutes, our problem tested was determining how those different solutes affected osmosis. Osmosis is
determined by the concentration of water molecules inside vs outside a membrane. Water molecules will diffuse to
the less concentrated region.

Our hypothesis stated that due to the higher concentration of water inside the potato, the water will diffuse
to outside the potato, to the less concentrated solution with sugar and salt, causing the potato to lose weight. We
found that both salt and sugar solutes cause the potato to lose weight.

Background: Definitions of osmosis, homeostasis, hyper/hypo/isotonic, pictures for explanation with words *cited
sources*

Procedure: repeatable, verifiable, concise, clear, all measurements included, list of control and variables

Data: all measurements included, % change in mass calculated, verbal descriptions and pictures, one graph

Conclusion

1. Restate purpose and what the results are (with the actual data numbers)
The purpose of this lab was to test and discover how salt and sugar solutions affect osmosis in a potato.
We found that NaCl decreased the mass of the potato by 66.7% and sea salt decreased the mass by 50%. C6H 12O
6
Decreased the mass of the potato by 42.9% and C12H O
22 11 decreased the mass by 57.1%.
All potato parts began the trials with weights around 0.7g and 0.9g, and ended the trials with weights around 0.3g
and 0.4g. The solute that caused the most osmosis to occur was NaCl. The solute that caused the least amount of
osmosis to occur was C6 H12
O6 .

2. How does your data agree to your hypothesis?

Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

Our data agrees with our hypothesis. We stated that the potato would lose weight due to a higher concentration of
water molecules inside the cell than outside the cell. Because there were more salt molecules outside the cells, the
system was hypertonic, therefore pulled water out of the potato sample, causing it to lose weight.

3. What could have gone wrong (experimental errors)? List 2

While testing for osmosis, as stated before, we looked for it through different concentrations. Experiment
errors are common, due to the fact that we are working in a high school lab. One of our errors was that we used tap
water, instead of distilled water. Distilled water is pure water, having none of the inorganic minerals that are
generally found in water. Since we were testing concentrations of salt and sugars, they could have been affected by
the inorganic minerals that are generally found in water. By using regular tap water we affected our data, and had
to retest. Our results were different proving that the tap water did affect our data. Another problem could have
occurred when we were measuring out the salt and sugar for the concentrations. We did not spend a lot of time
measuring these out, and that could have affected our data heavily. If they all didnt have the same amount they
would have affect the potato in different ways.

4. What would you have done differently? What would you use if you could? Would you try anything else?

To make this experiment better we should have used distilled water to begin with. Although, we found it
interesting how much tap water made a difference in our data. That could be a whole other experiment in itself,
using different types of water with different concentrations to test for osmosis. Although, that is testing for a bunch
of differnt things. As for not taking enough time, to fix this we should measure them out with the measuring spoons
then weigh them. This would help us make sure they all had the same mass. One other thing we would try differently
is to place something over top of our solutions to make sure that nothing will fly in.

5. What did you learn? How does this lab relate to what you are studying? How does this relate to society?
Uses of?
From this lab, I learned that adding solute, such as salt and sugar, to a solution creates a hypertonic system. This is
because it causes there to be less water particles in the solution than within the membrane of objects such as a
potato. The opposite of this situation is a hypotonic system, in which the solution outside the membrane is more
concentrated than within it. This lab relates to what were studying because osmosis and diffusion are ways that
cells maintain homeostasis. When a cell is no longer able to maintain homeostasis, it deforms or dies.

This relates to society because all living things are made of cells. When cells cannot perform osmosis, or active and
passive transport, they are no longer able to maintain homeostasis, and therefore die.

This is also important when looking and saltwater and freshwater animals. If a saltwater fish is placed in a
freshwater environment, or vice versa, that fish will explode from water diffusing into its body, or die from
dehydration, caused by water diffusing out of its body.

A common example of osmosis is pruned fingers after being in water for long periods of time. Your fingers
become bloated due to water diffusing into them, causing the pruned appearance.

Osmosis is used for preserving fruits and meats. To preserve fruit, osmosis is used to dehydrate it. To preserve meat,
osmosis draws salt into it which prevents bacteria to enter the meat. Osmosis can also be used for desalination
(turning salt water into drinking water). Reverse osmosis turns salt water from the ocean into water that can be used
Sydney Atkinson, Sarah Nadir, Sam Carner and Peyton Korte 10/12/16

for bathing, agriculture, and drinking

Bibliography: all sources in MLA or APA form

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<http://www.sparknotes.com/biology/cellstructure/cellmembranes/section1.rhtml>.

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<http://www.study.com/academy/lesson/channel-protein-definition-function-quiz.html> .

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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cell_membrane_detailed_diagram_edit2.svg>. (cell membrane picture)

"PMG Biology." PMG Biology. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <https://pmgbiology.com/tag/osmosis/>.

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<http://kmbiology.weebly.com/active-transport---notes.html>.

"Osmosis - Real-life Applications." Real-life Applications. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
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By Using the EHow.co.uk Site, You Consent to the Use of Cookies. For More Information, Please See Our Cookie
Policy. "How Do Plant Cells Maintain Homeostasis? | EHow UK." EHow UK. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
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