You are on page 1of 7

ALICE DU LAC 1ERE IB

MONDAY 22ND NOVEMBER 2011

IB BIOLOGY – OSMOSIS INTERNAL


ASSESMENT
Lab Report:

OSMOSIS IN ONION CELLS- 27/10/11

In osmosis the percentage change has an effect on the cell when there is a substance which are
dissolved in water who are introduced into the cell, thats is because the water molecules that bond to a
solute can no longer move freely which then reduces majorly the concentration of water in the cell.
This is a passive process. What happened particularly in plant cells is that when the tissue of the plant
has a salt solution added to it for a short time, the water can travel back and forth from the cell through
osmosis. If water leaves the cell, the plasma membrane and the cytoplasm will pull away from the cell
wall (plasmolysis).

The aim for this experiment is to understand the process of osmosis more clearly through a physical
approach to it, by observing the process of osmosis in onion cells closely.

The prediction of this experiment is that by increasing the concentration of salt water (NaCl) there will
be a change in the cell membrane, it is supposed to shrink in size as the concentration increases. This
observation will be done through an entire part of an onion, so we will also be observing the number of
cells which have this effect throughout the entire part of the onion. That way we have a better, reliable
source of information.

The method uses a lot of precision in the way which everything is executed, for this experiment I am
using (apparatus) : * Onion cell
* Forceps
* Microscope slides
* Cover Slips
* A range of NaCl solutions (0%, 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 0.9%, 1.5%)
* Distilled water
* Paper Towel
* Microscope
Here I demonstrate through a diagram the process which took place to observe osmosis in a onion cell,
the NaCl is the independent variable, because it is the one I change throughout the experiment, and the
distilled water is the controlled variable.

STEP 1: From a onion, carefully remove a part of the onion tissue to be evaluated.
Onion part

Onion tissue

STEP 2: Then, without bending it, take the onion tissue and place it carefully onto a microscope slide
and add a few drops of the concentration so that is covers the entire slide when the two slides are
pressed against one another.

Microscope slide (1)

Microscope slide (2)

Onion tissue

Drops of consideration

Pipette

STEP 3: Once the onion tissue is well soaked, use a paper towel to absorb the excess concentration
from the microscope slides. That way the image is clearer in the microscope.

Onion tissue

Paper towel

Microscope
STEP 4: Place the microscope slides with the soaked onion tissue in it, onto the safety grips of the
microscope and observe with a x3 view.

Microscope

Slides with onion tissue

x3 view

For the results of the experiment, i'm going to show the table with the results and the diagrams
showing what I noticed as the concentration increased.

RESULTS OF OSMOSIS CHANGE IN ONION CELL*


Concentration of NaCl Number of cells out of 20 showing plasmosis (/20)
(%)
0 N# 1 ( ) N# 2 ( ) N# 3 ( )
0.1 0 0 0
0.3 0 2 1
0.5 4 4 6
0.7 3 8 9
0.9 8 8 9
1.5 11 13 15

* The experiment was repeated three times so that the results would have a more reliable end result
and so that we can then identify if there are any flaws throughout the experiment.

0% of concentration (water) 0.1% of concentration

cell wall

cell membrane
0.5% of concentration 0.9% of concentration

cell wall

cell membrane

1.5% of concentration

Data processing is when all the results are then calculated into a mean, to then be represented into a
bar graph, from there the evaluation of our experiment can be clear and more understandable.
Mean = concentration of NaCl (0.1, 0.3...), take all three results from the three experiments, add then,
divide by three so that all the results are then fairly divided so then the mean is calculated.

0.1% of concentration= 0+0+0= 0/ 3 = 0


0.3% of concentration= 0+2+1= 3/3 = 1
0.5 % of concentration= 4+4+6 = 14/3 = 4.6
0.7% of concentration= 3+8+9= 20/3 = 6.6
0.9% of concentration= 8+8+9 = 25/3 = 8.3
1.5% of concentration= 11+13+15= 39/3 = 13

DATA PROCESSING OF THE RESULTS ONTO A LINEAR DIAGRAM:


45

40

35

30

25
Experiment N#3
Expermient N#2
20 Expriment N#1

15

10

0
0% 0.1% 0.3% 0.5% 0.7% 0.9% 1.5%

From the graph, we can clearly see that the process didn't happen equally and that the osmosis was only
very visible from the 0.9% and above of concentration. The percentages on the side show the
concentration and the colors indicate which part of the graph corresponds to which percentage.

As a conclusion I feel that my experiment really corresponded well to my initial hypothesis and the
osmosis cycle was very clearly showed within the enlargement of the tissue in the microscope.
Although the experiment started out with negative results, since the mean for 0.1% of concentration is
of 0, we can clearly deduce that there was no effect on the cells when the concentration of salt was
added with dilute water. And the 0.3% of concentration onwards, we can deduce that the numbers of
cells in the osmosis cycle start to show a lot more, and that the results show a much better evolution
that the previous ones.
Repeating this experiment three times did increase the chance of reliability a lot more, because
throughout the table above, we can see that the three different results on one particular percentage of
solution are very constant and that means my experiment went out without a hitch. From the pie
diagram above, we can see that the parts are not equal and that the process of osmosis moves on a lot
faster as the percentage increases.
It is hard to have a perfect set of results where we can see the process equally dispatched throughout
the cell tissue used, because the experiment could be changed in some areas. First of all, the process
was very technical and for some steps in the experiment thats is when uncertainties and error effect the
results. My initial though on how this experiment can be improved it to have separate pieces of tissue
for each percentage of solution, have is prepared in a beaker so that the solution has time to really soak
through and so that we are sure the solution equally spreads through the tissue. And so that we are able
to see the osmosis procedure a lot clearer because the concentration will have a much better effect on
the tissue. Using a different tissue each time will have a clean slate every time the experiment is tested,
I am pretty confident that will increase the reliability and there will be a lot less factors to create error
when the test is in progress.

You might also like