Exercise 6.

3 Movement of Solutes Across a Selectively

Permeable Membrane

Use the lab procedure below along with the video on ecampus “Exercise 6.3
Movement of Solutes Demo” to answer the questions at the end of this
document.

In this exercise, you will measure the diffusion of small molecules through dialysis tubing, an example of
a semipermeable membrane. Dialysis is the diffusion of solute molecules across a differentially
permeable membrane. The size of the minute pores in the dialysis tubing determines which substances
can pass through the membrane. The cell membrane is differentially permeable and allows only certain
materials to pass through it (see Figure 6.4 below).

Figure 6.4: Selectively (differentially) permeable.

Materials
 15 cm length of dialysis tubing
 2 pieces of string
 400 ml graduated beaker
 Iodine solution
 Starch solution
 Funnel

Procedure
1. Add 300 ml of starch solution to a beaker.
2. Tie one end of the dialysis tubing with string
3. Use a funnel to add 10 ml of iodine to the dialysis bag
4. Tie the remaining end of the dialysis bag with the second string
5. Place the dialysis bag into the beaker with the starch solution
6. Observe for 20 minutes
7. Record results in the table below.

Results

Record the results you observed in the video demo below. A (-) means that the substance is not present
in that particular container, a (+) means that it is present. The presence/absence of the solution at the
initial setup has already been recorded for you. Please fill in the presence/absence of the solution at the
end of the experiment.

Table 6.3: Presence of Iodine

Start (+) or (-) End (+) or (-) Movement across

membrane (yes or no)
Beaker -
Bag +

Table 6.4: Presence of Starch

Start (+) or (-) End (+) or (-) Movement across

membrane (yes or no)
Beaker +
Bag -
Questions
1. Which substance moved across the semipermeable membrane in this experiment?

2. Which substance was too large to move across the semipermeable membrane meaning it was
impermeable in this experiment?

3. What physical property of the molecules and the dialysis tubing might explain why the
membrane was impermeable to these substances?