Functioning Cells - Transport Across Membrane

Aim: To investigate the movement of substances across the plasma membrane

Introduction: The cell membrane is a selectively permeable membrane that surrounds each cell
and acts as a barrier for the cell’s contents to its surroundings. The complex structure of a cell
membrane allows it to control what goes in and out of each cell. There are two main types of
transport: passive and active. Active transport requires energy which is obtained by hydrolysis
of ATP, while passive transport does not require any energy (Khan Academy, n.d.). A
substance’s polarity, electrical charge, size and various other factors decide which mode of
transport it can use to travel across the membrane, or if it can pass through at all. The cell
membrane’s selective permeability is one of its most important features as it helps maintain a
suitable environment in the cell, allowing the organelles to carry out their functions efficiently.
In this experiment, a dialysis tubing will be used to demonstrate the permeability of a type of
membrane.
A dialysis tubing is an suitable apparatus for this experiment as it is an artificial semi-permeable
membrane and has similar requirements to cell membranes when it comes to allowing substances
to move through it. It has microscopic holes called pores which control the size of particles
which can travel across the membrane. The minimum molecular weight at which a solute can’t
pass through the pores about 90% of the time is called the molecular weight cut-off (Drioli,
Quist-Jensen & Giorno, 2015). Due to the similarity of artificial membranes to cell membranes,
they are often used in processes that involve the separation of substances, including medical
procedures such as kidney dialysis.
During this experiment, iodine-potassium iodide solution will be used to test the presence of
starch while a glucose strip test will be used to indicate the presence and amount of glucose in
the surrounding solution.

Hypothesis: If the molecule of the substance is small then it will be able to move across the
dialysis tube, if the molecule of the substance is large then it will not be able to move across the
dialysis tube.
Procedure:
1. A knot is tied at one end of the dialysis tubing.
2. The other hand of the dialysis tubing was opened up and slid halfway onto the glass tube of a
thistle funnel. Be careful not to create air bubbles.
3. An elastic band was used to secure the dialysis tubing onto the thistle funnel. The elastic band
may require to be wrapped multiple times around until it is tight. The elastic band has to be made
sure to be as close to the end of the dialysis tubing as possible to ensure there are no air bubbles.
4. The thistle funnel and dialysis tubing are positioned into an empty 500ml beaker using the
retort stand.
5. Steps 1-4 are repeated with a second thistle funnel, beaker and dialysis tubing.
6. 25ml of starch solution is poured slowly into ne thistle funnel so that it fills the tubing. The
bag is filled as it is gently squeezed repeatedly to push any air bubbles up through the funnel.
The starch solution should be at least 2-3 cm up from the bottom end of the stem of the thistle
funnel.
7. The outside of the tubing is washed to make sure no starch solution is on the outside. Make
sure the bag does not leak.
8. 25 ml of glucose solution is poured slowly into the other thistle funnel so that it fills the
tubing. The dialysis tube is gently squeezed to remove any air bubbles from the tubing if
necessary. The outside of the tubing is washed.
9. 500ml of distilled water is added to each beaker so that the elastic bands are sitting above the
water line.
10. 5ml of potassium-iodine solution is added to the distilled water in the beaker with the starch
setup.
11. A glucose test strip is used to test the distilled water in the beaker with the glucose setup.
12. The initial level of the starch and glucose solutions in their thistle funnels are recorded with a
marker.
13. A ruler is used to measure any change in the level of starch and glucose solutions after 10
minutes.
14. A ruler is used to measure the change in the level of solutions in the thistle funnels after 40
minutes from the start of the experiment.
15. Potassium iodide solution changes from yellow to blue in the presence of starch. Any colour
changes in either the water of the beaker or in the dialysis tubing of the starch setup is recorded.
16. The water in the beaker of the glucose setup is tested for the presence of glucose by dipping a
glucose test strip into the water. The strip colour is compared to the colour chart on the container
of test strips. The observations are recorded.

Results
Table 1 : Rates of movement of starch and glucose particles across plama membrane
Change in Change in Overall Iodine- Glucose
solution height solution height rate of potassium test strip
after 10 minutes after 40 minutes change in iodine solution
level colour
(cm/min)

Starch Increase by 0.2 0.2/40 =

No changes Remain yellow -
solution cm 0.005
 Glucose Increases by Increases by 4.5/40 = Greenish
-
solution 1.2 cm 4.5 cm 0.113 brown

Starch solution
The height of the starch solution did not increase in the thistle funnel after 10 minutes but
increased by 0.2 cm after 40 minutes from the starting of the experiment. The rate of change in
level of starch solution is 0.005 cm/min and the colour of the iodine-potassium iodine solution
remained yellow throughout the experiment.
Glucose solution
The height of the glucose solution in the thistle funnel increases by 1. cm after 10 minutes and
further increases up to 4.5cm 40 minutes from the start of the experiment. The rate of change in
level of the glucose solution is 0.113 cm/min and the glucose test trip turned greenish brown at
the end of the experiment.

Discussion:
1. Glucose molecules passed through the membrane. This is proved at the end of the experiment
when the glucose test strip turns greenish brown which indicates a presence of glucose.
2. Starch molecules have not passed through the membrane. This is proved when the distilled
water containing iodine-potassium iodine solution remains yellow, in the presence of starch
iodine-potassium iodine solution turns blue.
3. The level of starch solution in the thistle funnel increased by 0.2 cm because starch solution is
hyperosmotic to the iodine-potassium iodide solution which allows water to move through the
membrane by osmosis.
4. The level of glucose increased by 4.5 cm in the thistle funnel because glucose solution was
hypertonic to the distilled water outside the dialysis tubing. The osmotic pressure causes water
molecules to move down the gradient into the dialysis tubing by osmosis.

5. The glucose molecules could travel across the membrane because they weigh only 180 Da,
which is small enough to pass through the pores on the other hand a starch molecule is more than
1,000,000 Da hence the size of starch molecules exceeds the membrane’s molecular weight cut-
off that results in it not being able to move across the membrane.

6. One of the molecules involved in this experiment is glucose molecules and the process used
by it to move across the plasma membrane is simple diffusion. Simple diffusion is a process
where a substance moves down a concentration gradient across a semi-permeable plasma
membrane.

7. Sometimes molecules are unable to move across a semi-permeable membrane through passive
transport, this occurs because the molecules may be moving against the concentration gradient.
This does not mean the substance is unable to move in and out the cell but it does go through a
different process called active transport. Active transport is a process is the movement of
molecules across semi-permeable membrane with the input of energy.

8. Living cells were not used for this experiment because this experiment was conducted by
amateur students who perform the experiment based on text book readings and not proper
research. It is also not right to waste living cells on an experiment as simple as this especially
when an alternative (using dialysis tube) exists.

9.Glasswares used during the experiment are to be handled with care The experimental
procedures are to be carried out at the centre of the table to avoid the beakers and thistle funnel
from breaking. The dialysis tube is very thin so make sure it is gently handled when trying to
find the opening, if not cautions it may tear or cause leakage during the experiment.

10. Use a clip instead of a rubber band to ensure that none of the solutions in the tubing leaks
out. Rubber bands also easily snap so using a clip will avoid that from happening. A more
concentrated iodine-potassium iodide solution can be used during the experiment so that the
colour change in the starch experiment can be detected more quickly as the rate of diffusion
would be higher due to the larger concentration gradient of the particles between the inside and
surrounding of the tubing.

11. One suggestion for further research is to investigate if temperature affects the rate of
movement of substances across plasma membrane.
Conclusion:
The results support the hypothesis. Glucose has small molecules hence it was able to move
across the dialysis tube, starch on the other hand was unsuccessful as it has large molecules.

Reference:

Campton, J. (2016). CCEA AS Unit 1 Biology Student Guide: Molecules and cells. London
United Kingdom: Hachette UK.

Drioli, E., Quist-Jensen, C.A., & Giorno, L. (2015). Encyclopedia of membranes. Berlin,
Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Khan Academy. (n.d.). Passive transport and active transport across a cell membrane.
Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/cells/transport-across-a-cell-
membrane/a/passive-transport-and-active-transport-across-a-cell-membrane-article

ScienceLab.com. (n.d.). Iodine potassium iodide TS MSDS.

Retrieved from http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926001