Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Rating: _______________________

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Activity No. _____

PLANT CELL PHYSIOLOGY
Diffusion and Osmosis

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 distilled water vegetable oil
Transparent disposable cups water bath weighing scale

fresh Tradescantia spatheca Sw (boat of Moses) glass slides & cover slips
Dissecting needle & razor blade dropper, tissue paper
Compound microscope water, 5% salt solution

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.

Osmosis
4. Turgidity
a) Get fresh leaf of T. spathecea. Cut off a thin and small section of the lower epidermis.
b) Make a fresh mount of this specimen and observe under low power objective.
c) Look for purple colored cells. Their cell sap has dissolved anthocyanin pigment.
d) Swing to the high power objective and examine the cells and the cell wall. Draw the cells.
5. Plasmolysis
a) Add salt solution to the fresh mount at the side of the cover slip.
b) Study the changes in the cell upon addition of the solution. Observe under low and high power
objectives and make an illustration of the cells.
6. Deplasmolysis
a) Draw out the salt solution by putting a small portion of tissue paper at one side of the cover.
b) Add a drop of pure water on the mount. Study the changes in the cell wall and draw.

V. Date and Results

Table 3. Color intensities of cups containing atsuete soaked in different substances.
Substance Color Intensity with explanation/description

C1

C2
 C3

C4

Paste pictures of the set up results below:

Cell observations: Identify Total Magnification and label your observations.

LPO LPO LPO

HPO HPO HPO

Normal cell in water Plasmolyzed cell in salt solution Deplasmolyzed cell in water
(Turgid) (flaccid) (turgid)

VI. Post Lab Questions:

1. Which plant pigment traveled farthest? Why?
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2. What other factors affect rate of diffusion? Explain.
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3. In a turgid cell, what accounts for water movement into the proptoplasm?
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4. Explain osmotic flow when a living plant cell is placed in a strong salt solution.
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 5. What is incipient plasmolysis?
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6. Is plasmolysis reversible? Why?
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7. What are the membranes that envelope the vacuole of a plant cell?
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8. What is found between the cell wall and cell membrane in a plasmolyzed cell?
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9. In areas where weeds are predominant, salt solutions are usually used to destroy the weeds. Why is this
so?
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VII. References. (Write down all references/literature/citations used for this exercise.