Name: Maria Zephaniah D.

Artiaga Rating: _______________________

Course/Section: BS Fisheries TtUu Date Performed: 27/10/21
Date Submitted: 27/10/21

Activity No. 4
PLANT CELL PHYSIOLOGY
Diffusion

I. Introduction
The cell is the basic unit of function and structure in all living things. Cell functioning is very important
especially its ability to absorb and release materials/substances from and outside the environment. Diffusion is the
process in which there is movement of a substance from an area of high concentration of that substance to an area
of lower concentration and is the simplest means of material transport. On the other hand, Osmosis is a special
type of diffusion wherein molecules diffuse through a semipermeable membrane from a place of higher
concentration to a place of lower concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal. Both mechanisms
are essential to facilitate transport of substances necessary for various life functions.

II. Objective
At the end of the activity, you should be able to demonstrate diffusion process using selected plant pigments
and osmosis.

III. Materials
Atsuete seeds (or Mung beans) distilled water
vegetable oil transparent disposable cups water bath

IV. Methods/Procedures
Diffusion:
1. Put 1 g of atsuete seeds into each of four cups. Label them with numbers 1-4.
2. Pour onto the cups the following:
a) C1 - put 10ml distilled water
b) C2 - put 10ml of recently boiled distilled water
c) C3 - put 10ml vegetable oil
d) C4 - put 10ml of heated vegetable oil
3. Leave the cups for 30 minutes. Shake the cups after and observe the colors in each tube. Compare the
color intensities. Indicate the darkest by +++, then next ++, the lightest with +. Fill in the table.

V. Date and Results

Table 1. Color intensities of cups containing atsuete soaked in different substances.
Substance Color Intensity with explanation/description

C1 ++ C1 is totally not the darkest though the color is visible, one of the factor might
be because the water is not hot so the color is not that dark.

C2 +++ C2 has the darkest color output compared to the rest, the food color was
totally dissolved, sure because of the presence of heat in the water.

C3 +C3 is the lightest compared to the rest that’s because the oil was not able to
dissolve all of the food color.

C4 ++ C4 is lighter because for some reason the heat that comes from hot oil helped to
dissolve some food color
Paste pictures of the set up results below:
VI. Post Lab Questions:
1. Which plant pigment travelled farthest? Why?

The Beta Carotene moves the farther because it is highly soluble in the solvent and because it forms no
hydrogen bonds with the chromatography paper fibres.

2. What other factors affect rate of diffusion? Explain.

The temperature because it is directly proportional to the kinetic energy, meaning the higher the temperature,
the more kinetic energy the particles will have, so they will move and mix quickly.

3. In a turgid cell, what accounts for water movement into the protoplasm?

A turgid cell is a cell that has turgor pressure.  A plant cell that is placed in a  hypotonic solution would cause
the water to move into the cell by osmosis, resulting in large turgor pressure being exerted against the plant
cell wall. A turgid cell is a cell that has turgor pressure.

4. Explain osmotic flow when a living plant cell is placed in a strong salt solution.

Osmosis is the movement of water across a membrane. Salt triggers osmosis by  attracting the water and
causing it to move toward it, across the membrane. When you add water to a solute, it diffuses, spreading out
the concentration of salt, creating a solution.

5. What is incipient plasmolysis?

Incipient plasmolysis is defined as  the osmotic condition where 50% of the cells are plasmolysed . At this point, the
osmotic potential inside the cell matches the osmotic potential of the medium on average. If the osmotic
potential is assumed to be constant within a cell, it can be used to predict turgor pressure.

6. Is plasmolysis reversible? Why?

The protoplasm contracts due to ex-osmosis. When a plasmolyzed cell is placed in pure water (hypotonic
solution), endosmosis occurs and the protoplasm comes back to its original position. This is termed as
deplasmolysis. Plasmolysis is thus reversed by placing the plasmolyzed cell in hypotonic solution.

7. What are the membranes that envelope the vacuole of a plant cell?

Plant vacuoles are fluid-filled organelles bound by a single membrane called  the tonoplast, and contain a wide
range of inorganic ions and molecules.

8. What is found between the cell wall and cell membrane in a plasmolyzed cell?
9.
After plasmolysis the gap between the cell wall and the cell membrane in a plant cell is filled with (c)
hypertonic solution

10.In areas where weeds are predominant, salt solutions are usually used to destroy the weeds. Why is this
so?

Salt kills weeds by interrupting the plants' internal water balance and dehydrating them . It is best not to
directly apply the solution to the soil or roots to protect both the soil and nearby plants. Natural weed killers
have different pros and cons.
VII. References. (Write down all references/literature/citations used for this exercise.

https://brearleyhigh.kenilworthschools.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_7985/File/Corrected%20Photosynthesis
%20Lab.docx
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-biology/chapter/passive-transport/
https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/turgidity
https://education.seattlepi.com/high-concentration-salt-cell-membrane-4414.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4449541/
https://socratic.org/questions/is-plasmolysis-always-reversible-thank-you
https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/plant-vacuoles-and-the-regulation-of-stomatal-14163334/
https://brainly.in/question/12599836
https://brainly.in/question/12599836
https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/18/how-to-use-salt-as-a-natural-non-toxic-weed-killer/