Biology Lab Report

Finding the isotonic point of potato cells

Krisha Parekh Year 11 27 September y

Aim: To find the isotonic point of potato cells.

Background Information:
What is an isotonic point? :
An isotonic cellular environment occurs when an equal solute
concentration exists inside and outside the cell. Water molecules
flow in and out at an equal rate by osmosis, causing the cell size to
stay the same.
Osmosis: is the movement of water molecules across a selectivelypermeable membrane down a water potential gradient. More
specifically, it is the movement of water across a selectively
permeable membrane from an area of high water potential (low
solute concentration) to an area of low water potential (high solute
concentration. Osmosis may occur when there is a partially
permeable membrane, such as a cell membrane. Impermeable
means that the object doesn't allow things through it, so a
membrane has to be permeable so food gets in and waste gets out.
When a cell is submerged in water, the water molecules pass
through the cell membrane from an area of low solute concentration
(outside the cell) to one of high solute concentration (inside the cell);
this is called osmosis. The cell membrane is selectively permeable,
so only necessary materials are let into the cell and wastes are left
out.
When the membrane has a volume of pure water on both sides,
water molecules pass in and out in each direction at the exact same
rate; there is no net flow of water through the membrane.
In a solution, the concentration of water is diluted (or lowered) by
the presence of solute particles. If there is a solution on one side,
and pure water on the other, there will be a higher concentration of
water molecules on the pure water side of the membrane. Therefore,
water molecules pass through the membrane from the pure water
side toward the solution side more frequently than from the solution
side going to the pure water side. This will result in a net flow of
water to the side with the solution. Assuming the membrane does
not break, this net flow will slow and finally stop as the pressure on
the solution side becomes such that the movement in each direction
is equal: dynamic equilibrium. This could either be due to the water
potential on both sides of the membrane being the same, or due to
Krisha Parekh

osmosis being inhibited by factors such as pressure potential or

osmotic pressure.

Krisha Parekh

Hypothesis:
When Osmosis occurs, water molecules moves from a higher
concentration to a lower concentration through a partially permeable
membrane. As the concentration of the salt solution increases from
the areas of high concentration from potato cells to the regions of
low concentration in the salt solution causing the mass of the potato
cells decrease. The isotonic point will be in between 0.2 to 0.3 as its
the mid concentration, where as concentrations like 0.1 will be too
hypotonic.
Variables:
Dependent:
-

Mass of the potato cells after the experiment

Independent:
- Concentration of the salt solutions (0,0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4,0.5 mol/dm3)
-

Mass of the potato cells before the experiment

Control:
-Amount of salt solution (25 cm3)
-Number of potato strips in each test tube (5 per test tube)
Apparatus:
- 1 raw potato
- Knife
- Salt Solutions (0.0 M,O.1 M, 0.2 M, 0.3 M, 0.4 M, 0.5 M)
- 100 cm3 measuring cylinder
- Petridish
- Tweezers
- Electronic Weighing Balance ( 0.01 gms)
- Permanent Marker
- 6 test tubes
- Adhesive paper
- Scissor

Diagram:

Procedure:
- Using a knife,remove the skin of the potato.
- Using a knife, use the potato into 30 strips, approximately the
same size.
- Divide it into 6 sets with 5 strips in each set.
- Label each set in numbers from 1 to 5.
- Weigh each strip and note it down, rounded off to 2 decimal places.
- Measure 25 cm3 of salt solution with 0.0 M and pour it in a testtube. Then, do it for the rest of the concentration solutions.
- Cover up the test-tube with adhesive paper
- Leave the test-tubes for 24 hours
- Take out the potato strips the next day,dry them, weigh the potato
strips and note down the weight.
Quantitative Data:
Raw Data Table:
Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

o.o m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Change
in
Mass
(
0.01
gms)

2.95

3.12

+0.17

2.40

2.44

+0.04

2.41

2.47

+0.06

2.50

2.59

+0.09

Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

0.1 m

0.2 m

0.3 m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Change
in
Mass
(
0.01
gms)

2.78

2.80

+0.02

0.90

0.88

-0.02

0.81

0.82

+0.01

0.98

0.98

+0.01

0.95

0.93

-0.02

0.95

0.91

-0.04

1.20

1.17

-0.03

1.25

1.23

-0.02

1.21

1.18

-0.03

1.17

1.12

-0.05

1.30

1.29

-0.01

1.22

1.16

-0.06

1.24

1.22

-0.02

1.19

1.16

-0.03

1.17

1.12

-0.05

Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

0.4 m

0.5 m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Change
in
Mass
(
0.01
gms)

1.28

1.19

-0.09

1.87

1.70

-0.17

1.72

1.69

-0.03

1.95

1.84

-0.11

2.20

2.16

-0.04

2.02

1.97

-0.05

3.19

3.01

-0.18

3.02

2.89

-0.13

3.14

2.97

-0.17

3.26

3.03

-0.23

3.37

3.33

-0.04

Processed Data Table:

Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

o.o m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

2.95

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

3.12

Change
in
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)
+0.17

Average
(
0.01
gms)

0.08

Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

0.1 m

0.2 m

0.3 m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Change
in
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

2.40

2.44

+0.04

2.41

2.47

+0.06

2.50

2.59

+0.09

2.78

2.80

+0.02

0.90

0.88

-0.02

0.81

0.82

+0.01

0.98

0.98

+0.01

0.95

0.93

-0.02

0.95

0.91

-0.04

1.20

1.17

-0.03

1.25

1.23

-0.02

1.21

1.18

-0.03

1.17

1.12

-0.05

1.30

1.29

-0.01

1.22

1.16

-0.06

Average
(
0.01
gms)

-0.01

-0.03

-0.05

Concentra
tion(
mol/d
m3)

0.4 m

0.5 m

Strip
Nu
mb
er

Initial
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Final
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

Change
in
Mas
s (
0.01
gms
)

1.24

1.22

-0.02

1.19

1.16

-0.03

1.17

1.12

-0.05

1.28

1.19

-0.09

1.87

1.70

-0.17

1.72

1.69

-0.03

1.95

1.84

-0.11

2.20

2.16

-0.04

2.02

1.97

-0.05

3.19

3.01

-0.18

3.02

2.89

-0.13

3.14

2.97

-0.17

3.26

3.03

-0.23

3.37

3.33

-0.04

Average
(
0.01
gms)

-0.08

-0.15

Average: Sum of observations/ Number of Observations

example: concentration of 0.5 mol/dm3= = (-0.18)+(-0.13)+(-0.17)+
(-0.23)+(-0.04)/5
= -0.15
Qualitative Observations:

There were bubbles present in each test-tube.

-The solution started getting translucent as the concentration of

the solution increased.

Graph
Concentration
(mol/dm^3)

Change in mass (
0.01 gms)

0.08

0.1

-0.01

0.2

-0.03

0.3

-0.05

0.4

-0.08

0.5

-0.15

Percentage change in mass:

(initial mass-final mass)/initial mass x 100
example: 0 M : (2.61-2.68)/2.61 x 100

= 2.68%

Concentration(mol/d
m^3)
0

% change in mass

-2.68%

Concentration(mol/d
m^3)

% change in mass

0.1

-2.17%

0.2

2.44%

0.3

4.09%

0.4

4.10%

0.5

4.69%

Conclusion:
The pattern observed from the graph and results are as follows, for
the concentration of 0.0 M, the mass increases and so theres a
positive change in mass for example, from 2.95 to 3.12 grams and
thus the change in mass would be +0.17 grams. The reason for this
would be the concentration of water would be higher in the solution
rather than the potato tuber, causing endosomosis as water travels
from the regions of higher concentration to a lower concentration.
On the other hand, as the concentration increases from 0.1 M to 0.5
M, there is a decrease in mass and the higher the concentration, the
larger decrease there is. For 0.3 M, the average decrease in mass is,
-0.05 grams where as the average change in mass for 0.5 M is
-0.15grams. After plotting the graph, the isotonic point is 1.04 as it
cuts the x intercept at that point. Therefore, my hypothesis is proved
correct as the isotonic point is in between 0 to 0.1 mol/dm^3.

Evaluation:
In my readings of 0.1 M there were a few positive results when there
shouldve been a decrease in mass for all the potato strips. The
reasons for this couldve been:
- while weighing the potato strips, the fluid must not have been
cleared thus leading to extra weight.
- while noting down the weight, there couldve been some errors thus
not providing me with accurate results.
Therefore, to avoid such mistakes, one must cleanse the fluid from
the petri-dish while measuring it and the experiment could have
been repeated twice for better results.
Safety Measures:
1)
While cutting the potato, one should be careful and ensure the
knife doesnt slip as it may cause injury.
2) Be careful while handling the scalpel for cutting the potato strips
to the required length.