OSMOSIS LAB

By: Frank Vargas

Period: B1
INTRODUCTION
Water moves through protein channels in cell walls. The water will
move due to the water potential of the cells. If there is a greater
concentration of solutes inside the cell than outside the cell and the
chemicals cannot move, then water will respond by moving into the cell
because water can come in faster than water with the solute could
leave. Once concentration has reached an equilibrium then it is
considered isotonic. This process involves water gradients called water
potentials. If one area has a large amount of water, it has a high water
potential. On the other hand if an area has a lot of dissolved material
and less water it has a low water potential. Water tends to move down
its gradient, from high to low water potential. The experiment has us
observe this using potato cores that are placed into different solutions
of sugar water. The sugar alone is too big to move through the cell
membrane. So depending on the water potential of the cells vs the
solution water will move in or out. This lab has us observe this and
determine the concentration of solutes in the potato’s cells.

HYPOTHESIS
My hypothesis is if there is a higher concentration of sucrose in a
solution than the potato core this means that water will leave the
potato’s cells and at the end it should weigh less because water would
move out of the potato core faster than water could come in.
MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE
● 6 beakers
● Scale
● Cork borer
● Distilled water
● Plastic wrap

1. Pour 100mL of the assigned solution into a labeled 250-mL

beaker. Slice a potato into discs that are approximately 3 cm thick
2. Use a cork borer (approximately 5mm in inner diameter) to cut
four potato cylinders. Do not include any skin on the cylinders.
You need 4 potato cylinders for each beaker
3. Keep your potato cylinders in a covered beaker until it is your turn
to use the balances.
4. Determine the mass of the four cylinders together and record the
mass in table 1.4. put the four cylinders into the beaker of sucrose
solution.
5. Cover the beaker with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation.
6. Let it stand overnight.
7. Remove the cores from the beaker, plot them gently on a paper
towel, and determine their total mass.
8. Record the final mass in table 1.4 and calculate the percent
change.
CHARTS AND GRAPHS

contents in dialysis Initial Final Mass percent change in

bag mass mass difference mass
a)0.0 M distilled water 12.67 12.78 0.11 6.87
b)0.2 M sucrose 11.27 11.84 0.57 5.1
c)0.4 M sucrose 8.74 9.44 0.7 8
d)0.6 M sucrose 12.54 13.62 1.08 8.6
e)0.8 M sucrose 13.04 14.39 1.35 10.4
f)1.0 M sucrose 11.25 12.89 1.64 14.6

contents in beaker Initial Final Mass percent change in

mass mass difference mass
a)0.0 M distilled water 11.4 13.3 1.9 16.6
b)0.2 M sucrose 10.9 11.6 0.7 6.42
c)0.4 M sucrose 10.8 9.6 -1.2 -11.1
d)0.6 M sucrose 10.7 8.9 -1.8 -16.82
e)0.8 M sucrose 11 8.2 -2.8 -25.45
f)1.0 M sucrose 11.1 8.3 -2.8 -25.285
Conclusion:
The results support my initial theory that the potato cores would shrink
as sucrose concentration increases due to the solution being hypertonic
and water would come out of the potato core faster than water with
the solute could go into the potato’s cells. In conclusion when the
potato core was placed in hypertonic conditions there was water lost
resulting in a lower weight at the end of the experiment.