EXPERIMENT 3.

6 : Determining the concentration of an external solution which is isotonic to the cell sap
of a plant

Aim __________________________________________________________________________

Problem What is the concentration of an external solution which is isotonic to the cell sap?
statement

Hypothesis The concentration of the solution which is isotonic to the cell sap of plant cells is _________

Variables Manipulated : _____________________________________________________________

Responding : _____________________________________________________________
Constant : _____________________________________________________________

Materials and Potato, tissue papers, distilled water, 0.1 M, 0.2M, 0.3M, 0.4M, 0.5M and 0.6M sucrose
apparatus solutions, scalpel, cork borer, boiling tube, test tube rack, forceps, ruler, 50ml beaker and
electronic balance

Procedure

1. Seven boiling tubes were prepared and labelled A, B, C, D, E , F and G.

2. The first boiling tube was filled with 20cm³ of distilled water. The rest were filled with
20 cm³ of sucrose solutions with the concentrations 0.1M, 0.2M, 0.3M, 0.4M, 0.5M and
0.6M.
3. Seven potato strips were prepared by using cork borer.
4. The strips were cut to the same length of 5 cm.
5. Each strip was wiped dry with a piece of tissue paper.
6. The mass of each potato strip was weighed and recorded.
7. Each strip of potato was placed in the boiling tubes.
8. The strips of potato must be covered completely in the solution.
9. After 30 minutes, the potato strips were removed, wiped dry and weighed.
10. The results were recorded in a table. A graph of the change in mass against the
concentration of the sucrose solution was drawn.
Observation
Tube Concentration of Mass of potato strip (g) Change in mass (g)
sucrose solution (M)
Initial Final
A Distilled water
B 0.1
C 0.2
D 0.3
E 0.4
F 0.5
G 0.6

*draw a graph of percentage difference in the length of potato strips against the
concentration of sucrose solution

Discussion 1. What is the texture and appearance of the potato strips after being immersed in the
various concentrations of sucrose solution?

2. What do the axes on your graph represent?

3. How do you determine the concentration of sucrose solution which is isotonic to the cell
sap of the potato from your graph?
a)

b)

c)

4. Based on the experiment, discuss the process of osmosis in the various concentrations of
sucrose solutions.
a)

b)

c)

Conclusion Based on the graph, the concentration of the solution which is isotonic to the cell sap of
plant cells is ___________________.