NAME: Antonio Willoughby

DATE: January 22, 2023

LAB: 7

TITLE: TRANSPORT ACROSS MEMBRANES

AIM: To investigate the effects of different solutions on water potential of plant cells in Irish Potato.

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS: knife, test tubes, digital balance, forceps, scalpel, beakers, petri dish,
measuring cylinder, test tube rack, ruler, labels, syringes - 5cm3, distilled water, Irish Potato strips, 10%
sucrose solution.

METHOD:

1. Ten beakers were labeled with the concentrations 10%, 8%, 5%, 2.5%, and 0.0%.
2. Ten test tubes were labeled with the same concentrations, with each concentration appearing on
two test tubes.
3. Dilutions of the stock sucrose solution (10%) were made using syringes and distilled water, each
with a final volume of 20 cm³.
4. The following formula was used to make dilutions, and the table was filled in:
5. Potato strips, 4 cm long and 2 cm wide, were cut.
6. Two strips were weighed and their individual masses were recorded.
7. The strips were added to the test tubes labeled 10%. They were ensured to be fully submerged.
8. Step 6 was repeated and the strips were added to the remaining solutions: 8%, 5%, 2.5%, and 0%.
9. After 24 hours, the strips were reweighed, the length was measured, and the results were recorded
and filled in the table.
10. The data was used to plot a graph of mean percentage change in mass against concentration of
sucrose.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Water potential is the energy potential of water in a system. It tells us how much energy water
has compared to pure water in a reference state. Osmosis is the movement of water molecules
from an area of high water potential to an area of low water potential through a partially
permeable membrane. This movement happens until the water potential is equal on both sides of
the membrane.Hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic describe how much solute there is in two
different solutions. If one solution has more solute and less water potential than the other
solution, it's hypertonic. If one solution has less solute and more water potential than the other
solution, it's hypotonic. If both solutions have the same amount of solute and water potential,
they're isotonic.The water potential inside a cell affects how it behaves compared to the water
potential of its surroundings. If the water potential inside the cell is higher than outside, water
flows into the cell, making it swell. If the water potential inside the cell is lower than outside,
water flows out of the cell, making it shrink.Water potential is important for cells because it
affects their shape, size, and function. Changes in water potential can cause cells to gain or lose
water, which can affect their growth, metabolism, and response to changes in their environment.

RESULTS:

Mean
Concentration Percentage
Change in Percentage
of Sucrose Initial Mass/ g Final Mass/ g Change in
Mass/g Change in
Solution % Mass
Mass
3.7 2.2 -1.5 40.5%
0.0 40.8%
3.9 2.3 -1.6 41.0%
3.8 3.9 +0.1 2.6%
2.5 3.7%
2.1 2.2 +0.1 4.8%
3.7 3.5 -0.2 5.4%
5.0 12.3%
2.6 2.1 -0.2 19.2%
3.4 2.4 -1.0 29.4%
8.0 26%
4.0 3.1 -0.9 22.5%
3.5 2.9 -0.6 17.1%
10.0 13.6%
3.0 2.7 -0.3 10.0%

C1 (%) C2 (%) V1 (cm³) Volume of distilled water (cm³) V2 (cm³)

10 20 0 20

8 16 20-16=4 20
10
5 10 20-10=10 20

2.5 5 20-5=15 20

CALCULATIONS:

Include a sample calculation for:

1. C1V1 = C2V2
Where: C1 – initial concentration of the stock solution
 V1 – volume of stock solution to be taken to perform the dilution
C2 – concentration of the diluted sample
V2 – final total volume of the diluted sample.
10 × x = 8 x 20
10 × x = 160
y = 160/10
y =16
2. Percentage change = (change in mass/ original mass) x 100
[1.5/3.7 ] x 100 = 40.54%
=40.5% percent change

3. Mean percentage change in mass

[40.5 + 41.0]/2 = 40.75

=40.8% change in mass

DISCUSSION

When a plant cell is in a solution with a higher water potential than the cell's cytoplasm, water will move
into the cell through osmosis, causing it to become turgid. This is because the cell wall is rigid and does
not allow the cell to expand.On the other hand, when a plant cell is in a solution with a lower water
potential than the cell's cytoplasm, water will move out of the cell through osmosis, causing it to become
flaccid. If the water potential of the solution is low enough, the cell membrane will pull away from the
cell wall, resulting in plasmolysis. The plasmolysis experiment can be used to study the effects of
different solutions on plant cells. For example, one can investigate how a plant cell behaves in a
hypertonic solution, which has a lower water potential than the cell's cytoplasm. By observing the degree
of plasmolysis, one can determine the water potential of the cell's cytoplasm. Through the experiment, it
was observed that in the 0.0 solution there was a large percentage change in mass for the potato strips as
due to their environment as they lost around 40.8% of their mass signifying that the potato strips had more
sucrose than its surrounding. The potato strips in the 2.5 solution showed the least change in percentage
change in mass. The following solutions had a gradual increase in their percentage mass change, this
further proved the conclusion as it drifted more and more from the isotonic norm. Another notable
observation was made as the 8.0 solution created an anomaly due to its sudden spike in its percentage
change, however, it was assumed to be in correlation with the source of error.

Using the graph, it can be deduced that the concentration of sucrose in the potato is closest to the sucrose
concentration of 2.5%.

SOURCE OF ERROR

● Human error: the usage of undistilled water

● Timing error: insufficient time

LIMITATION
Impurity of potato strips caused by lack of freshness

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our investigation into the effects of different solutions on the water potential of plant cells
in Irish potatoes has provided valuable insights into the behavior of plant cells under varying conditions.
Based on what we observed, we were able to find out how much water the potato cells can hold, which is
important for understanding how plants function and behave.