Osmosis Lab Report 1

Osmosis Lab Report

Jackson Paschall
Honors Biology Period 5
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School
April 30, 2018
 Osmosis Lab Report 2

Introduction

Passive transport is a movement of ions and other atomic or molecular substances across

cell membranes without need of energy input. (Britannica 1) Unlike active transport, it does not

require an input of cellular energy because the tendency of the system instead drives it to grow in

entropy. (Haver 1) Selectively Permeable cells are cells that 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. (Gardner 1) Osmosis is the process by which

molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated

solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the

membrane. (Britannica 1) The three types of osmotic conditions that affect living cells are called

hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic states. (Haver 1) Hypotonic is having a lower osmotic

pressure than a fluid, typically a body fluid or intracellular fluid. (Britannica 1) Hypertonic is

having a higher osmotic pressure than a fluid, typically a body fluid or intracellular fluid.

(Britannica 1) An isotonic solution refers to two solutions having the same osmotic pressure

across a semipermeable membrane. This state allows for the free movement of water across the

membrane without changing the concentration of solutes on either side. (Britannica 1) We need

to understand osmosis because it is used in plants, medicine, and to preserve meats and fruits.

The dialysis tubing is a semi-permeable membrane tubing used in separation techniques and

demonstration of diffusion, osmosis, and movement of molecules across a restrictive membrane.

The purpose of dialysis tubing is to measure the glucose, starch, and iodine. (Gardner 1) The

purposes for this lab include to learn about osmosis, compare the effects of diffusion, and to

determine if a specific substance can pass in or out of a model cell. In each beaker we are trying

to represent cells in different environments. They will either be in Isotonic, Hypotonic, or

 Osmosis Lab Report 3

Hypertonic environments. (Gardner 1) Each bag will have either, tap water, 20%, 40%, 60%, or

80% starch solution. The dependent and independent variables for pt. I of the lab are dependent

is mass change and independent is concentration in solution. The dependent and independent

variables for pt. II of the lab are dependent is the color of the iodine and independent is the time

it sits in the solution. The constants for part I include the same amount of solution or water, the

same amount of time spent in the cylinders, that they were all dried off, and knots were the same

tightness, and that they were placed in and taken out at the same time. The constants for pt. II

include that the ends cut were the same length, the knots were the same tightness, make sure all

the measurements were correct, same drops of iodine, and the same amount of time. The control

group for part I was bag 1 and the experimental group was the other bags. The control group in

pt. II was the solution in the bag and the experimental group was the solution in the beaker. If a

stimulated cell with pure water is placed into a beaker with pure water, then there will be little

mass change and it will it be in an isotonic environment. If a stimulated cell with a 20% glucose

solution is placed into a beaker with pure water, then the cell will gain mass and it will be in a

hypotonic environment. If a stimulated cell with a 40% glucose solution is placed into a beaker

with pure water, the cell will have an increase in mass change and it will be in a hypotonic

environment. If a stimulated cell with a 60% glucose solution is placed into a beaker with pure

water, then the cell will increase in mass change and it will be in a hypotonic environment. If a

stimulated cell with water and another stimulated cell with an 80% glucose solution are placed

into a beaker with a 60% glucose solution, then the cell with water will have a decrease in mass

change and it will be in a hypertonic environment and the stimulated cell with a 60% glucose

solution will have an increase in mass change and it will be in a hypotonic environment. If a
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stimulated cell with starch is placed into a beaker with water and Iodine, then the cell will be in a

lower concentration gradient and the water and Iodine will move into the stimulated cell.

Materials

 Beakers (6)

 Glucose solution (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%)

 Water solution

 Dialysis tubing

 Scale

 String

 Paper towels

 Timer

 Pipets

 Iodine

 Starch

 Graduated cylinders

Procedures (Diffusion Through Cell Membranes Packet)

Part I

1. Get 5 pieces of dialysis tubing that has been previously soaked in water. Fold one end of the

tube over 1 cm from the end and tie a knot around the tube with the string. Iie more knots to

make sure that the bag will not leak. Cut the excess string.
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2. Fill each tube halfway with 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% starch solution and two with water for a

total of six environments.

3. After each bag is filled, close, fold, and tie each end of the bag. Don’t tie the bag to tight.

Place each bag on a numbered paper towel to avoid mixing up the bags.

4. Using a weight, measure each bag to get its mass. Record the masses.

5. Place the bags in an individual beaker for three times each for three minutes.

6. At the end of each of the three minutes, remove the bags from the beakers, dry them off, and

weight the to the nearest gram. Record the masses. When that is complete return the bags to their

beakers at the same time and don’t mix up the bags.

7. Record the number for Bag 1 only. The weights of bags 2-5 will be determined from the

averages of the masses. Once the averages are calculated enter them in the table.

Part II

1. Fold one end of the tube over and tie a knot over the fold. Tie additional knots and cut the

excess string 2 cm from the ends.

2. Fill the tube about half full of starch solution.

3. Add 1 teaspoon of starch solution to the tube. Fold the other end and tie a knot at the other

end.

4. Rinse the bag to clean off any spills. Dry it off with a paper towel and set it aside.

5. Next, fill a beaker half full of water and add 8 drops of Iodine. Place the model cell in the

iodine water. Fill out the starting color box in the chart.
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6. After 15, remove the cell and dry it off lightly.

7. Next, record any color change in the beaker. Fill out the final section in the chart in terms of

color change.

Results

Table 1: Mass of each Cell

Time Water in Water 20 % in Water 40% in Water 60% in Water Water in 60% 80% in 60%
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 208 317 408 567 -150 241
6 291 534 800 1009 533 316
9 249 701 1108 1409 -783 399

We got these numbers by recording the mass of each cell before we tested on them and three
times after we tested them. Once each group in all three classes completed their tests, we then
averaged out each column to make sure we were all using the same numbers.
The table and the graph show us the results of the experiment. For water in water, the mass

quickly rose from 208 to 291 after 6 minutes but after three more minutes it fell to 249. The dark

blue graph shows the increase and then decrease of the mass of the mass. For 20% in water, the

mass increased by all most 200 ever time with it going from 317 to 534 finally to 701. The

orange graph shows the constant increase of the mass of the bag overtime. For 40% in water, the

mass increased by almost 300 ever time with is starting at 408 and going to 800 and then 1108.

The grey graph represents the constant increase of the mass of the bag overtime. For 60% in

water, the mass increased by almost 400 ever time starting at 567 and going to 1009 and then

finally to 1409. The yellow graph represents the constant increase of the mass of the bag

overtime. For 80% in water, the mass dropped negative to -150 then rose to 533 then descended

to -783. For 80% in 60%, the mass had a small but constant increase of its mass by going from

241 to 316 to 399. The light blue graph represents the increase of mass of this bag. For pt. 2 the
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tube turned purple. The water also stayed a little bit the same but due to the purple leakage of

iodine, the water was tinted.

Figure 1: Mass vs Time

This graph shows the rate of change in the mass of each bag overtime.

Discussion

In part one, most of the bags had a mass increase, while one had a decrease. This mass change

was due to the type of environment that the dialysis tubing was placed into. In the first setup, the

cell with water was placed into a beaker with water and experienced a slight mass change

because the dialysis tubing was in an isotonic environment. This meant that the concentration

was equal both inside and outside the cell. In the second setup, the cell with the 20% glucose
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solution was placed into a beaker with water and experienced a mass gain because there was a

higher concentration of pure water on the outside. This meant that the cell was in a hypotonic

environment, causing the water to move inside to reach equilibrium. In the third setup, the cell

with the 40% glucose solution in water experienced an increase in mass change because it was in

a hypotonic environment. This meant that there was a higher concentration of water outside the

stimulated cell, causing the water to want to move inside the cell until it reached equilibrium. In

the fourth setup, the cell with the 60 % glucose solution in water experienced an increase in mass

because there was a higher concentration of pure water outside the cell, causing the water to

move inside the cell. This means the cell was in a hypotonic environment. In the fifth setup, there

was a cell with water and another one with an 80% glucose solution that were both placed into a

60% glucose solution. The stimulated cell with water in the 60% glucose solution experienced a

decrease in mass change because it was in a hypertonic environment. This caused the water to

move outside of the cell because there was a higher concentration of pure water inside the cell

and to be able to reach equilibrium, the water would have to move to a lower concentration. The

movement from the cell caused there to be a decrease in mass because there was less substance

inside the stimulated cell as time increased. In the cell with the 80% glucose solution in a 60%

glucose solution experienced an increase in mass because the cell was in a hypotonic

environment. This meant that there was a higher concentration of pure water outside of the cell,

causing the water to move inside the cell to reach equilibrium. This caused an increase in mass

because the cell was filled with more pure water as time increased. The rate of osmosis was

different for each setup. This happened because as the cells got closer to equilibrium, the rate

slowed down due to less substance having to move in and then eventually they equaled out and

osmosis was not needed. The rate of osmosis was also different due to the different concentration
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gradients. When there was a higher concentration of water outside of the cells, there was more

water that tried to move inside. Osmosis happens faster when there are higher amounts of

substance trying to reach the lower concentration gradient. The 80% glucose solution in the 60%

glucose solution did not gain as much weight from zero to three minutes as the 20% glucose

solution in the water because in part II of the lab, the stimulated cell with starch in it started as

white but at the end of the time, it changed to blue. This happened because the higher

concentration was outside of the cell and it contained water and iodine. The iodine mixed with

the water and formed the higher concentration of pure water, meaning that it was in a hypotonic

environment and the water would move into the lower concentration gradient. The iodine caused

the color to turn blue and as it moved in with the water, it changed the cell to blue as it reached

equilibrium. From the labs, it was found that the cell was permeable to water. When the cells

were in a hypotonic state or a hypertonic state, it would allow the water to move into or out of

the cells to reach equilibrium. In the labs there could have been many sources of error. In the first

lab, the cells were placed into the beakers for a short period of time. This could have affected the

change in mass because there would have been more time to reach equilibrium. Another error

could have happened when the stimulated cells were taken out of their environment. After this,

they were supposed to be dried off, but some could have had extra liquid that did not get dried

off, affecting the mass. Then next error could have come from the measurements. When using

the glucose solutions, some of it stuck to the graduated cylinders and did not allow for equal

amounts of glucose for the stimulated cells. The last source of error could have happened when

the cells were taken out of the beakers. The error could have happened because the cells were not

taken out at the same exact time, causing one or two cells to have more time to reach

equilibrium. A change to the lab would be allowing the cells to stay in the beakers for longer
 Osmosis Lab Report 10

periods of time. This would have changed the mass change and would have let the stimulated

cells get closer to equilibrium.

References

Britannica, T. E. (September 19, 2017). Osmosis. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1.

Gardner, R. (2001). Osmosis - Real-life applications. Science Clarified, 1.

Haver, B. (2017). Osmosis and Diffusion. Biology, 1.