Diffusion and Osmosis through Cell Membranes Lab

Avery Polak
Period 4 Honors Biology
North Catholic High School
16 April 2019
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
Introduction:

Diffusion is when particles move from a high concentration to a low concentration.

Diffusion is a type of passive transport, and this means the cells do not lose energy when

diffusion takes place (Bailey, 2019). Passive transport also means the cells do not need protein

channels to cross the permeable membrane (Ngyuyen, 2017). Diffusion can occur across a

membrane, or a small layer of solid material. A membrane is a selectively permeable membrane,

which mean the membrane allows certain substances to pass through it. The rate of diffusion

through different membranes is partially determined by the permeability of the membrane

(Bailey, 2019). Osmosis is similar to diffusion, however osmosis involves a solvent, water, to

move through a membrane (The Cell Membrane). Osmosis is the movement of water across a

membrane from a high concentration to a low concentration. Osmosis is a form of passive

transport (The Cell Membrane). The osmotic flow of water molecules into a cell cause osmosis

pressure. If there is a high osmotic pressure inside the cell, the cell will expand. If there is a high

osmotic pressure outside the cell, the cell size will decrease. Also, if there is a larger

concentration of water molecules on the inside of the cell, the water molecules will move to the

outside where there is a lower concentration, and vice versus. This occurs so the cell can achieve

equilibrium. There are three types of osmotic environments. Each of these environments explain

the osmotic state that is around the cell, and not in the cell (Ngyuyen, 2017). The first is

hypertonic, and these conditions lead the water to diffuse out of the cell, which causes the cell to

shrink. The second environment is hypotonic, and these conditions make the water to go into the

cell, which makes the cell’s size increase. The last one is an isotonic environment, and in this

situation the water moves in and out of the cell equally, which causes no increase or decrease in

cell size (Nyguyen, 2017).

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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
Osmosis takes place daily in the body and is key to keeping cells alive. Osmosis helps

balance and control the osmotic pressure and concentration of solute on each side of the

permeable membrane of the cell. During osmosis, the cells receive nutrients and waste is

transported out of the cell (Shukla, 2018). So, without osmosis, cells would not be able to excrete

their waste and keep the bloodstream clean. Also, plants would not exist either without osmosis

because plant cells use osmosis to absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil (Shukla, 2018).

This means if plants did not exist, all life would cease to exist because plants are an important

base of the food chain. So, osmosis is keeping mostly everything on earth alive.

In this lab, the different types of osmotic environments in cells will be demonstrated. The

purposes of this lab are to observe how osmosis and diffusion take place through a semi-

permeable membrane, determine and watch the concentration gradient effects on the rate of

osmosis, and figure out how permeable dialysis tubing is. Dialysis tubing will act as the

selectively permeable cell membrane. Dialysis tubing is an artificial semi-permeable membrane.

It helps facilitate the movement of smaller particles through the membrane and blocks large

particles from passing through, just as a cell does.

The set of for Part I of this lab includes six beakers and six filled dialysis tubes. Each

beaker and bag represent a type of osmotic environment. Beaker one and bag one are both filled

with tap water (Diffusion through Cell Membranes, 2019). This represents a cell in an isotonic

environment. Beaker two is filled with tap water and bag two is filled with 20% starch solution.

This represents a cell in hypotonic environment. Beaker three is filled with tap water and bag

three is filled with 40% starch solution. This represents a cell in a hypotonic environment

(Diffusion through Cell Membranes, 2019). Beaker four is filled with tap water and bag four is

filled with 60% starch solution. This represents a cell in a hypotonic environment. Beaker five is
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
filled with 60% glucose solution and bag five is filled with tap water. This represents a cell in a

hypertonic environment. Beaker six is filled with 60% glucose solution and bag six is filled with

80% starch solution. This represents a cell in a hypotonic environment (Diffusion through Cell

Membranes, 2019). In this part, the dependent variable is the mass of the dialysis tubing and the

independent variable is the percent of concentration of solution in each dialysis tubing. The

constants are the size of the beaker, the size of the dialysis tubing, and the amount of solution in

each bag. The control group is bag one because it is an isotonic environment. Because bag one is

being placed into an isotonic environment, there will be no mass change because the particles are

moving in and out of the semi-permeable membrane at an equal rate (Biology, 2012). The

experimental groups are bags two, three, four, five, and six because they are hypertonic and

hypotonic. These bags will have a mass change because they are in hypertonic and hypotonic

environments which means the particles will be trying to move from a high concentration to

where there is low concentration (Biology, 2012). If the environment is hypertonic and

hypotonic there will be a mass change, whereas if the environment in isotonic there will be no

mass change.

The set up for Part II of this lab involves one beaker filled with iodine water and one

dialysis tubing bag filled with starch solution (Diffusion through Cell Membranes, 2019). In this

part, the dialysis bag continues to represent a selectively permeable cell membrane. The

dependent variable was the color the bag and water turned, and the independent variable is the

amount of time the bag is in the beaker. The constants are the beaker, the amount of time,

amount of iodine, and length of dialysis tubing. There is no control group, but there is one

experimental group which is the one beaker with the one dialysis tubing bag. If the iodine is able
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
to pass though the semi-permeable dialysis tubing, then a color change will occur within the

dialysis tubing.

Materials:

Part I: Part II:

6 400mL beakers 400mL beaker
2 5mL of water 205mL of water
5mL of 20% starch 20 drops of Iodine
5mL of 40% starch Starch
5mL of 60% starch 1 piece of dialysis tubing
5mL of 80% starch String
4 200mL of cold water Scale
2 200mL of 60% glucose solution Scissors
6 pieces of dialysis tubing
String
Scale
Scissors
Stopwatch
Diffusion through Cell Membranes lab packet
Paper and pencil
Paper towels
Procedure:

Part I:

1. Gather six pieces of evenly cut pre-soaked pieces of dialysis tubing.

2. Fold down approximately one inch of the tubing and tie one end with string. Make sure to

tie tightly and cut the excess string.

3. Then repeat this process on the remaining five bags.

4. Fill each piece of dialysis tubing as follows in this chart:

Bag One 5mL of tap water

Bag Two 5mL of 20% starch solution
Bag Three 5mL of 40% starch solution
Bag Four 5mL of 60% starch solution
Bag Five 5mL of tap water
Bag Six 5mL of 80% starch solution
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
5. Once all the tubes are filled, repeat the same tying process to make sure the ends are

closed and secured. Also be sure to not stretch the dialysis tubing.

6. Place each bag onto a numbered paper towel after finished tying it to avoid confusion.

7. Use the scale to measure the starting mass of each bag and then record the weight on a

chart on paper.

8. Place each dialysis tube into the correct beaker at the same time using the diagram as

follows:

Beaker 1: Tap water Beaker 3: Tap water Beaker 5: 60% Glucose

1 2 3 4 5 6

Beaker 2: Tap water Beaker 4: Tap water Beaker 6: 60% Glucose

9. At the five minute mark, remove each bag at the same time and place them on the paper

towel. Then weigh each dialysis tubing in grams using the scale. Record on the chart.

10. Then place all the bags back in the beakers at the same time.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 at the 10, 15, and 20 minute mark, and make sure to record the

mass on the data chart.

12. Fill Table 1 of the lab packet in with the class averages (Diffusion through Cell

Membranes, 2019).

Part II:

1. Take one piece of pre-soaked dialysis tubing and fold down approximately one inch of

the tubing and tie one end with string. Make sure to tie tightly and cut the excess string.

2. Fill the dialysis tubing with 5mL of tap water.

3. Using a spoon full of starch, add it to the water inside the bag.
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
4. Tie the end of the nag tightly using the same process as in step one.

5. Rinse the bag off with water to avoid cross contamination and dry the tubing off.

6. Fill a 400mL beaker with 200mL of tap water.

7. Add 20 drops of iodine into the same beaker filled with water.

8. Set the dialysis tubing bag into the beaker.

9. Hand the beaker to the teacher and record the data in Table 2 of the Diffusion through

Cell Membranes lab packet (Diffusion through Cell Membranes, 2019).

Results:

Part I:

Table 1: Mass Changes (grams) of Bags over Time

Time Bag 1 Bag 2 Bag 3 Bag 4 Bag 5 Bag 6

(min)
0 5 5 5 5 5 5

5 5.33 5.2 5.59 5.33 5.22 5.55

10 5.419 5.337 5.89 5.64 4.98 5.555

15 5.439 5.519 6.017 5.869 4.79 5.585

20 5.459 5.559 6.227 6.009 4.49 5.771

Description: Table 1 shows the mass change of the dialysis tubing from the class averages. The

table starts with the initial mass at 0 minutes and then the mass for every five minutes after is

recorded. Each dialysis tubing bag had an initial starting weight of five grams.

Figure 1: Mass (grams) vs. Time (minutes)

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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab

Description: Figure 1 illustrates the data information from Table 1. The table and graph exhibit

the mass changes of each bag through the 20 minute time period. Bag 1 became equalized from

0-10 minutes and then the mass of the bag rose slightly at a steady rate from 10-20 minutes. Bag

2’s mass increased at a steady rate from 0-10 minutes, then from 10-15 minutes the mass had an

abrupt increase, and then started to level out from 12-20 minutes. Bag 3 had an extreme increase

from 0-5 minutes and then continued to increase at a fast but steady pace from 5-15. From 15-20

minutes the slope decreased and began to equalize. Bag 4 had a slight increase from 0-5 minutes

and then suddenly rose from 10-20 minutes, but eventually started to level out. Bag 5 rose from

0-5 minutes but after 5 minutes the mass decreased at a large but steady rate. Bag 5 did not equal

out, and the slope remained constant. Bag 6 had an abrupt increase almost identical to bag 3 from

0-5 minutes. For bag 6 there was a slight decrease in mass from 5-10 minutes, however there was

also a slight increase from 10-15 minutes. From 15-20 minutes, bag 6 had a sudden increase.

Part II:

Table 2: Permeability of Cell with Color

Starting Color Color after a Day

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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
Solution in Dialysis Bag White & clear Purple
Solution in Beaker Orange/yellow Clear

Discussion: Table 2 displays the color of solution in the dialysis bag and the color of the solution

in the beaker. The table shows the color before and after a day of the bag sitting in the beaker.

The initial color of the solution in the dialysis bag was pale white color. The final color of the

dialysis bag after one day is purple. The initial color of the solution in the beaker was an orange-

yellow mix. There was no color in the beaker after one day.

Discussion:

In part one of this lab, the results differed from the predicted outcome. Beaker one and

bag one should have had an isotonic environment because each were filled with water (Biology,

2012). However, there was an unusual slight rise in mass from 0-5 minutes. This was most likely

due to human error and cross contamination between the pipets used because this would change

it from isotonic to hypertonic or hypotonic. For set up number two, the environment was

hypotonic which meant that the mass and weight should have an increase, and it did from 0-15

minutes. Then the mass started to equal out which is because the environment was almost at

equilibrium. This means the rate of osmosis and concentration gradient was decreasing (Biology,

2012). In the third setup, the environment was also hypotonic, and the actual data follows the

predicted results. The dialysis tubing bag’s mass increased at a steady rate and then began to

equal off as predicted. Beaker four and bag four were a hypertonic environment, and the

predicted results and the actual data were a match. The fifth setup was a hypertonic environment,

and the bag’s mass had an increase from 0-5 minutes. Then there was a sudden sharp but steady

increase from 5-20 minutes. This was unusual for a hypertonic environment so it could have

been caused by human error. An example is someone not tying the dialysis tubing knot tight

enough or cross contamination. Setup six was a hypertonic environment. This set up did not
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
match the predicted results and expectations. There was a rapid increase from 0-5 minutes which

was continued by the equaling off from 5-15 minutes. Then there was a sudden sharp increase

from 15-20 minutes. This was also probably a human error caused from cross contamination

with glucose (Biology, 2012). Once the bags started to level off, they have begun to reach

equilibrium, and this was shown through the results. This is due to the fact that osmosis is

particles moving from a high concentration to a low concentration with the end goal of reaching

equilibrium within each side of the semi-permeable membrane (Biology, 2012). The higher the

rate of osmosis, the higher the concentration gradient, and same as the lower the rate of osmosis,

the lower the concentration gradient. This is because the solution and tubing are each trying to

reach equilibrium as fast as they can (Biology, 2012). For part two of this lab, the iodine moved

into the dialysis tubing’s semi-permeable membrane, causing the dialysis tubing to turn a blue

color. This color change took place because the iodine passed though the membrane and can into

contact with the starch. There could have been errors such as cross contamination with the

pipets, mixing up the amount of iodine, not tying the dialysis tubing bags tight enough, or wrong

measurements. If this lab were to be revised, there should be practice beforehand to eliminate the

amount of cross contamination between pipets and solutions. This would help ensure more

precise and accurate results (Biology, 2012).

Conclusion:

The hypothesis of part one of this lab was shown to be accurate because the different

changing osmotic environments did change the concentration gradient and the rate of osmosis.

This was demonstrated through the mass changes of the dialysis tubing bags. The osmotic

environments changed the mass, and this was shown through the results and discussion of data.

The hypothesis for part two of this lab was also shown to be accurate because the iodine was able
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
to pass through the dialysis tubing’s semi-permeable membrane. This creates a color change

within the dialysis tubing causing the color to go from white to purple. The importance of this

lab is to comprehend and understand how osmosis and diffusion work and how osmosis affects

the lives of many organisms.

References:

Bailey, R. (2019, April 10). What Is Diffusion? Retrieved from

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-diffusion-3967439

Biology. (2012). McGraw Hill Education.

(2019). Diffusion through Cell Membranes.

Nguyen, D. H. (2017, November 21). What Are the Two Main Types of Diffusion & Osmosis?

Retrieved from https://education.seattlepi.com/two-main-types-diffusion-osmosis-

4270.html

Shukla, I. C. (2018, March 19). Bet You Didn't Know the Importance of Osmosis Living in

Organisms. Retrieved from https://biologywise.com/importance-of-osmosis-in-

living-

organisms
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Osmosis and Diffusion through Cell Membrane Lab
The Cell Membrane: Diffusion, Osmosis, and Active Transport. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.dummies.com/education/science/anatomy/the-cell-membrane-diffusion-

osmosis-and-active-transport/