Osmosis Lab

Question: How does the concentration of water affect the mass of dialysis
tubing(cell model)?
Background information: First off, osmosis is the movement of water and is a type
of diffusion. This means that osmosis is the transportation of when water
molecules travel through the semi -permeable membrane. The way the water
goes through the membrane is that the membrane has tiny openings that can
let those water molecule by but cannot let any sort of solutes pass because
they are too large and the solutes would require assistance in order to be
processed through the semi -permeable membrane. Solutes are molecules
such as sugar and salt because they are molecules that can be dissolved in
solvent. The word solvent means water or H20. One thing you have to know if
you want to know about water molecules, water molecules move to areas that
contain higher solutes such as places that contain any type of sugar or salt but
solutes in general. This is why osmosis is a type of diffusion because the
definition of diffusion is the movement of water molecules that travel to a higher
concentration to a lower concentration.
Hypothesis: I think the mass of the water cell placed in the sugar solution will
increase because the tube will absorb the water surrounding it AND I think the
mass of the sugar cell placed in water will decrease because the sugar solution
is much more different than water so the water holds the sugar cell in place so
the tube will not absorb the water in the cup.
Materials:
Water
Sugar
2 places of Dialysis Tubing, 15cm each
Graduated Cylinder (100 mL)
Beaker (400 mL)
2 - 12 oz cups
Triple beam balance
4 pieces of string, 25cm each
Spoon

Small cup for measuring sugar

Permanent Marker
Scissors
Meter Stick
Medicine dropper
Procedures:
1. Make 150 mL of a 19% sugar solution using sugar, water, small cup, graduated
cylinder, beaker, spoon, and the triple beam balance.
2. Pour the sugar solution into a cup labeled Cell = Water, Cup = Sugar
3. Pour 150 mL of water into a cup labeled Cell = Sugar, Cup = Water
4. Soak the dialysis tubing in water for approximately 3 minutes
5. Using a piece of string , tie a TIGHT knot near one end of the dialysis tubing and
trim off the extra string
6. Open the opposite end of the tube and use the medicine dropper to fill it half - full
of water
7. Use another piece of string to tie the open end of the tube and trim off the extra
string
8. Determine the mass of the tube using the triple beam balance and record the
data
9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 using the sugar solution
10. Place the water cell in the cup labeled Cell = Water, Cup = Sugar and let sit
overnight
11. Place the sugar cell in the cup labeled Cell = Sugar, Cup = Water and let sit
overnight
12. Determine the final mass of each tube using the triple beam balance and record
the data
13. Create 2 controls (Cell = Water, Cup = Water and Cell = Sugar, Cup = Sugar)
Data:
Water Cell/ Water
cup
Initial Mass
(g)
Final Mass (g)

Graph:

8.2
8.0

Sugar Cell/ Sugar Water Cell/ Sugar

Cup
Cell

Sugar Cell/ Water

Cup

9.4

11.6

10.3

9.2

7.0

10.6

Conclusion: Since the water solution was put into the cup filled with sugar water, the
water traveled to the cup because the cup contained a type of solute, sugar! So when
our class checked our cups that were labeled Cell = Water , Cup = Sugar, the cell had
shrunk and when it was weighed, the amount of mass had decreased. When the cup
labeled Cell = Sugar , Cup = Water was checked, the cell had swelled up or had
grown bigger. This is because the water inside the cup traveled inside the cell which
had caused the cell to increase in mass (grams) when it was last measured for the final
result. Since the water had nowhere to go it traveled into the cell. No matter if the cells/
cups and the solutions were vice versa, the water would have traveled to where the
higher solute concentration is located. Therefore, the weight increased for the sugar cell
and decreased for the water cell.