SalemBelay

Ms.Lyon
APBiology
November2nd2015
InvestigatingDiffusionandOsmosis
Introduction:
Inthislab,threedifferentprocedureswillbeconductedinordertofurther
understandtwoimportantprocesses:diffusionandosmosis.Diffusionandosmosisoccur
duetothekineticmotionofcells.Diffusionisthebasicformofmovementforcells,and
osmosis,aspecifictypeofdiffusion,pertainsonlytothemovementofwater.
Whencellsundergodiffusion,thereisamovementofsolutesfromanareaofhigh
concentrationtolowconcentrationthatoccurswithnoenergyinput.Thiswillbe
investigatedthroughprocedureone,whichwillspecificallyfocusontherelationship
betweensurfaceareatovolumeratioanddiffusion.Theprocedurewilluseagarcubesin
asolutionofwaterandwillthenbetimedtoseetherateofdiffusionforthedifferent
surfaceareatovolumeratios.
Inprocedurestwoandthree,cellswillundergoosmosis:themovementofwater
willmovefromanareaofhighwaterpotentialtolowwaterpotential.Proceduretwowill
testtheosmoticpotentialdifferencesofdifferentsucrosesolutions,withtheuseof
dialysisbagsasmembranes.Procedurethreewilldeterminetheosmolarityofdifferent
applesagainwithdifferentconcentrationsofsucrose.
Waterpotentialreferstothemeasureofthepotentialenergyofacertainsolution
ofwaterincomparisonthepurewater.Itisthesumofthepressurepotentialandthe
osmoticpotentialofasolution.Ifthereisanincreaseinpositivepressure,thepressure
potentialwillalsoincrease,whichwillthereforeincreasethewaterpotential.Ifthereis
anincreaseinsolute,therewillbeadecreaseinsolutepotential,andthereforethewater
potentialwillalsodecrease.WaterpotentialisrepresentedbytheequationYp=iCRT,
whereiistheionizationconstant(1forsucrose),Cistheosmolarityoftheappleused,R
isthepressureconstant(0.0831literbar/moleK),andTisthetemperatureinK.
Thoughwatermovesdownitsconcentrationgradientwithnoresistanceinnonwalled
cells,inwalledcells,watermeetsresistancewiththecellwallintheformofturgor
pressure,whichinturnaffectstherateofosmosis.
Waterhastheabilitytomovethroughcellmembranesbecausemostcell
membranesareselectivelypermeable,andaremadeofphospholipidbilayerswithboth
hydrophobicandhydrophiliccharacteristics.Inprocedurestwoandthree,ifthesolution
ishypertonic,thatmeansthatthereisahighsoluteconcentrationandalowwater
concentration,sowaterwillmoveintothehypertonicsolution.Conversely,ifthesolution
ishypotonic,thereisahighwaterconcentrationandalowsoluteconcentration,sowater
willmoveoutofthesolution.Ifasolutionisisotonic,thereisanequalamountofwater
movementbecausebothsolutionshavethesameconcentrationofsolute,andalsoequal
amountsofwatermovinginandoutofthecell,thereforethesolutionshaveequalwater
potential.

Incells,bothdiffusionandosmosistakeplaceuntilthecellreachesdynamic
equilibrium:astatewheretheconcentrationofmoleculesbecomesequal.
Problem:
Procedure1:Ifagarcubesofdifferentsurfaceareatovolumeratiosareplacedina
solution,whichcubewouldthatsolutiondiffusethroughthefastest?
Procedure2:Whichsizeofosmoticgradienthasthefastestrateofosmosis?
Procedure3:WhatistheosmolarityofGrannySmithapples?
Hypothesis:
Procedure1:Iftheagarcubehasalargersurfaceareatovolumeratio,itwillhavea
slowerrateofdiffusion.
Procedure2:Iftheconcentrationofsucroseincreases,thenthemassofthedialysisbags
willalsoincreaseduetoincreasinglyhypertonicnatureofthesolutionuntilequilibrium
isreached.
Procedure3:Iftheconcentrationofsucroseincreases,thenthemassoftheapplewill
alsoincreaseduetotheincreasinglyhypertonicnatureofthesolutionuntilequilibriumis
reached.
MaterialsListInclude:
Procedure1:
1. Threedifferentsizedagarcubes:lengthsof1cm,2cm,and3cm
2. Beaker
3. 200mLofvinegar
4. Timer
Procedure2:
1. Six~20cmstripsofpresoakeddialysistubing
2. Sixsucrosesolutionswithdifferentconcentrations(0.0M,0.2M,0.4M,0.6M,
0.8M,1.0M)
3. Stringstotiethebagswith
4. Beakers/plasticcups
5. 200mLofdistilledwater
6. Scale
7. Timer
Procedure3:
1. Appleofchoice
2. 100mLofeachconcentrationofsucrose

3. Corkborer
4. Knife
5. Scale
6. Thermometer
7. Plasticcups
Procedure:
Procedure1:
1. Obtainthreedifferentsizedcubes:1cm^3,2cm^3,and3cm^3
2. Determinethesurfaceareaandvolumeforeachofthesecellsandrecordindata
table.
3. Fillabeakerwith200mLofvinegarandcarefullyplaceeachagarcubeintothe
beaker.
4. Recordthetimeittakesforeachcelltocompletelyloseitscolorinyourdata
table.
Procedure2:
1. Obtainsix,~20cmstripsofpresoakeddialysistubing.
2. Tieoffoneendofeachpiecewithtwistytiestoform6bags.
3. Pour20mLofeachofthefollowingsucrosesolutionsintoseparatebags:
1. 0.0Msucrosedistilledwater
2. 0.2Msucrose
3. 0.4Msucrose
4. 0.6Msucrose
5. 0.8Msucrose
6. 1.0Msucrose
4. Removesomeoftheexcessairfromeachbagandtieoffwithtwistyties.
5. Rinseeachbagtoremovesucrosefromthestringandoutsidesurface.
6. Carefullyblottheoutsideofeachbagandrecordtheinitialmassofeachbagin
Table3.
7. Placeeachbaginoneofthree250mLbeakers(orplasticcup)andfillwith200
mLofdistilledwater.Labeleachbeakerwithyourgroupnumberandmolar
concentrationofbag.
8. Letstandfor20minutes,thenremovethebagsandcarefullybloteach.
9. DeterminethemassandrecordinTable3forthesolutionsyouwereassigned.
10. Recorddataofpercentchangeinmassinyourcorrespondinggroupnumberin
Table4(ontheclasscomputeraswell).
11. UsingExcel,incorporateontoagraphthemean,standarddeviation,anderror
barsoftheclassresults.
Procedure3:
1. Obtain100mLofeachofthesucrosesolutionsandpoureachsolutionintoa
separate,labeled250mLbeaker.
2. Useacorkborertocut24applecylinders

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Cuteachcylindertosegments3cminlength.
Removeanyskinfoundonthecylinders.
Determinethemassof4ofthecylinderstogether,andrecordyourmeasurements.
Putthese4cylindersintooneofyoursucrosesolutions.
Dothesamefor4othercylindersandplaceinyoursecondsucrosesolution.
Dothesamefortheremainingcylinders(ingroupsof4)andplaceinthe
remainingsucrosesolutions.
9. Coverthebeakerswithplasticwrap.
10. Letbeakersstandovernight.
11. Thenextday,recordthetemperatureofthesucrosesolutionsinTable5.
12. Removethecoresfromoneofthebeakersanddeterminetheircombinedmass.
13. Dothesameforyourtwootherbeakers.
14. Recordthefinalmassesandcalculatepercentchange.
Results:
Procedure1:
DataTable1
LengthofCube
Side

SurfaceArea
(cm^2)

Volume(cm^3)

SurfaceArea:
VolumeRatio

TimeUntil
Complete
Diffusion

1cm

6cm^2

1cm^3

6:1

23min

2cm

24cm^2

8cm^3

3:1

53min

3cm

54cm^2

27cm^3

2:1

83min

Relationshipbetweensurfaceareatovolumeratioandrateofdiffusion:
Photostakenthroughoutexperiment:

Takenimmediatelyafterthe
cubeswereplacedinsidethe
solution

Takenafewminutesintothe
experiment,asdiffusionwas
takingplace

Procedure2:
DataTable1:
ContentsofBeaker

InitialMass

FinalMass

0.0Msucrose

15.82g

15.83g

MassDifference %Changein
Mass
0.01g
0.06%

0.2Msucrose

16.58g

16.87g

0.29g

1.75%

0.4Msucrose

18.43g

19.43g

1.00g

5.43%

0.6Msucrose

13.73g

14.55g

0.82g

5.97%

0.8Msucrose

20.00g

20.62g

0.62g

3.10%

1.0Msucrose

19.92g

21.50g

1.58g

7.93%

DialysisBagResultsforIndividualGroup:

Graph:

DataTable2:
PercentChangeinMassofDialysisBagsClassData:
Mean
4.57%
2.53%
8.05%
0.0M
7.40%
0.2M
11.34%
0.4M
12.00%
Table
0.6M

StandardDeviation
0.134
Group1
Group2
0.116
0.044
0.94%
0.51%
0.068
10.66%
4.46%
0.089
14.44%
5.14%
0.119
18.43%
7.00%

Continued:
0.8M
1.0M

17.94%
29.04%

14.15%
16.0%

StandardError
0.055
Group3
0.047
0.018
0.9%
0.028
3.2%
0.036
9.5%
0.048
10.1%
12.0%
20.1%

Graph:
Group4

Group5

Group6

0.06%
1.6%
5.43%
5.97%
3.1%
7.93%

2.91%
14.23%
11.12%
2.48%
22.12%
0.83%

31.72%
18.99%
2.64%
5.40%
1.26%
0.23%

MeanofDialysisBagsforVariousSucroseMolarities(ClassData)
14.00%
12.00%

f(x) = 0.03x - 0.05

10.00%
8.00%

6.00%
MeanofClassData

Linear()

4.00%

Linear()

2.00%
0.00%
2.00%

0.0M 0.2M 0.4M 0.6M 0.8M 1.0M

4.00%
6.00%
SucroseMolarity

Procedure3:
DataTable1:
AppleCoreResultsforIndividualGroup(Variety:GrannySmithApples)
Contentsof
Temperature InitialMass FinalMass
Mass
%Changein
Beaker
Difference
Mass
0.0Msucrose

20C

3.58g

3.16g

0.42g

11.7%

0.2Msucrose

19C

3.58g

4.66g

1.08g

30.2%

0.4Msucrose

19C

3.75g

4.77g

1.02g

27.2%

0.6Msucrose

20C

3.10g

3.96g

0.86g

27.7%

0.8Msucrose

20C

2.47g

2.73g

0.26g

10.5%

1.0Msucrose

19C

2.50g

2.55g

0.05g

2%

Graph:

ChangeinMassofAppleCoresforVariousSucroseMolaritiesAfter24Hours
35
30
25
20
15
%Increase/DecreaseinMassofAppleCores

10

f(x)=0.28x+13.33 %ChangeinMassofAppleCores
Linear(%ChangeinMassof
R=0
AppleCores)

5
0
5
10
15
SucroseMolarity

MolarConcentrationoftheAppleCore:
Todeterminethemolarconcentrationoftheapplecore,usethepointonthelineofbest
fitthatinterceptswiththexaxis(becausethatswherethewaterpotentialandtheapple
tissuewaterpotentialareequal),andthensolveforx.
1. y=0.2829x+13.327(lineofbestfit)
2. 0=0.2829x+13.327(pointofintersectionwithxaxis;y=0)
3. 13.327=0.2829x(rearrange)
4. x=47.1M(solveforx)

SolutePotentialforSucroseSolution:
Yp=iCRT
Yp=1(47.1M)(0.0831literbar/moleK)(293K)
Yp=427.81bar
Photostakenthroughoutexperiment:

Takenasappleswerefirst
cutintocylinders

ErrorAnalysis:

Takenofsmallcylinders
categorizedintothevarying
molarsolutionstheywillbe
placedin

Imageofsolutionswithapplesplaced
insidethem(beforetheywereleftover
night)

Procedure1:
Apossibleerrorforprocedureonecouldbemeasuringthedifferentsidesofthe
cubeswrong,orcalculatingthesurfaceareasandvolumeswrong,whichwouldresultina
skewedsurfaceareatovolumeratio.Anothererrorcouldbefoundinthetimingifyou
stopthetimertoosoonortoolate,youwillhaveanerrorincomparingtheratesof
diffusionforthedifferentcubes.
Procedure2:
Themostcommonerrorinprocedurethreeisleavingthedialysisbagforless
than/morethan24hours.Thiscouldresultinacompletelydifferentmeasurementforthe
finalmassofthedialysisbags,whichwouldresultinanincorrectcalculationforthemass
differenceandpercentagechangeinmass.
Onthesecondhalfoftheprocedure,therecouldalsobeanerrorinthedataofthe
othergroups,astherewereinthisexperimentwithgroups5and6.Thiswouldleadtoan
inconclusiveexperiment,asthefaultygroupswouldskewthegeneralpatternfordata.
Procedure3:
Inprocedurethree,cutsandbruisesintheapplecylindersareaprobablesourceof
error,astheywillcausechangesintherestoftheprocedure.
Anothersourceoferrorcouldbeinthesizeofthecorkborer.Ifthesizeofthe
corkborerisswitchedinthemiddleoftheprocedure,thiswouldalsoaffectthe
measurementstaken,astheinitialmassesoftheapplesinthedifferentsucrosesolutions
wouldvary.

DiscussionandConclusion:
1. Thisexperimentshowedthatthecubeswithhighersurfaceareatovolume
ratios(6:1)diffusedfasterthancubeswithlowersurfaceareatovolume
ratios(3:1and2:1).Thisisbecauseasvolumeincreases,thereisagreater
amountofsolutetodiffuse,andthereforetherewillbemoretimerequired
untilcompletediffusion.Evenifthesurfaceareaincreasesalongwiththe
volume,unlessitincreasesatthesameratioasthefastestone(6:1),then
therestoftheratioswilltakelongertodiffusebecausetheyarelower(3:1
and2:1).Thisisclearlyprovenintheexperimentasthefirstagarcube
witha6:1ratiodiffusedthefastest(ittookonly23minutes),andtherest
followedinorderofdescendingratios(3:1took53minutes,followedby
2:1,whichtook83minutes).
2. Thisexperimentshowedthatthemorehypertonicacellis,thehigherthe
raterofosmosisintothecellwillbe.Thisisbecausehypertonicsolutions
haveahighconcentrationofsolute(sucroseinthiscase)andalow
concentrationofwater,thereforewaterontheothersideofthemembrane
withahigherwaterconcentrationandalowersoluteconcentration,(which
makesithypotonic),willdiffusefromthatareaofhigherwater
concentrationintotheareaoflowerconcentrationinthehypertoniccell.
Thisoccursbytheprocessofosmosisandwillcontinueuntilequilibrium
isreached.Thesucrose,however,didnotdiffuseoutofthecell(keeping
thesolutionhypertonic)becausetherewasasemipermeablemembrane
(thedialysisbag)thatkeptthesucroseinside.Astheconcentrationof
sucroseincreases,thesolutionbecameincreasinglyhypertonic,which
meansthatthatthefinalmassofthedialysisbagwillincreasebecause
thereismorewatercomingintothecellfromahypotonicenvironmentto
ahypertonicenvironment.Thiswasprovenclearlyintheindividualgroup
experimentsofgroups14asthefinalmassesofthecellswerehigherthan
theinitialmassesforalltheconcentrationsofsucrose,andalsohada
greatermassdifferenceastheconcentrationincreased(0.0Mhada0.06%
increaseinmass,while0.6Mhada5.97%increase,and1.0Mhada7.93%
increase),whichshowedthatanincreasinglyhypertonicsolutionwilllead
toahigherrateofosmosisintothecell.Groups5and6,however,are
outliersbecausethedatapresenteddoesnotshowasteadyincreaseinthe
percentchangeinmassasthesoluteconcentrationincreases.Therefore,
basedonthemajorityofthedatacollected,itissafetoconcludethat
osmosisoccursatahigherrateasasolutionbecomesmorehypertonic
thoughasmallportionofthedataisfaultyandinconclusive.
3. Inthisexperiment,osmosisofwaterintotheappleshouldincrease(as
waterismovingfromahypotonicgradientoutsideoftheappletoa
hypertonicgradientinsideoftheapple)untilequilibriumisreached.As

equilibriumisreached,thereshouldnotbeachangebetweenthefinaland
initialmassesasthesolutionwouldbeisotonicandtheconcentrationof
soluteisequaltotheconcentrationofwater.Themassoftheappleshould
thendecrease(theapplewillshrivel)afterequilibriumisreachedbecause
nowwaterwillbemovingfromtheappletothesurroundingsolutionof
sucrose.Thoughthereweresomeminorerrors,thiswasprovenrelatively
wellinthegroupdata,astherewasasteadyincreaseinthemassofthe
appleasthesucroseconcentrationincreased(themasseswentfrom3.16g
at0.0Mto4.77gat0.4M),andthentherewasasteadydeclineoncethe
solutionreachedequilibriumsomewherebetween0.4Mand0.5M,asthe
masseswentfrom4.77gat0.4Mto2.55gat1.0M.