MEASURING THE RATE OF OSMOSIS USING DESHELLED CHICKEN EGGS

(Effect of Solute Concentraton U!on Rate"De#ree of O$%o$$ n C&c'en E##$()

Intro*ucton
If a cell is to perform its functions, it must maintain a steady state in the midst of an ever-
changing environment. This constancy is maintained by the regulation of movement of materials
into and out of the shell. To achieve this control, cells are bounded by a delicate membrane that
differentiates between different substances, slowing down the movement of some while allowing
others to pass through. Since not all substances penetrate the membrane equally well, the
membrane is said to be differentially permeable.
The external and internal environment of cells is an aqueous solution of dissolved inorganic and
organic molecules. Movement of these molecules, both in the solution and through the cell
membrane, involves a physical process called diffusion a spontaneous process by which
molecules move from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which their
concentration is lower.
! special "ind of diffusion is the phenomenon of osmosis. Simply defined in biological systems,
osmosis is the diffusion of water through a differentially permeable membrane from a region in
which it is highly concentrated to a region in which its concentration is lower. More often,
however, osmosis is defined in terms of the effects that solutes have on the thermodynamic
activity of water #i.e., the activity of the water molecule due to the "inetic energy of motion$.
%or example, the addition of a solute to water tends to decrease the activity of the water. In other
words, as more water molecules are displaced by solute molecules, the activity of the water goes
down. Thus, in thermodynamic terms, water diffuses across membranes from a region in which
the thermodynamic activity of water is high #low solute concentration$ to one in which the
thermodynamic activity is low #high solute concentration$.
&e use the terms hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic in referring to the relative concentrations of
solute particles of different solutions. 'elow are the definitions of the three terms according to
(urtis, )*+,.
-ypotonic #.". hypo, under / tonos, tension$0 1f two solutions of different
concentration, the solution that contains the lower concentration of solute
particles2 water moves across a semi-permeable membrane into a
hypertonic solution.
-ypertonic #.". hyper, above / tonos, tension$0 1f two solutions of different
concentration, the solution that contains the higher concentration of solute
particles2 water moves across a semi-permeable membrane into a
hypertonic solution.
Isotonic #.". isos, equal / tonos, tension$0 -aving the same concentration of
solutes as another solution. If two isotonic solutions are separated by a
semi-permeable membrane, there will be no net flow of water across the
membrane.
It should be noted that the number of solute particles is the thing that affects the relative activity
of the water, not the "ind of particles.
-eat increases the motion of molecules. Therefore, we expect an increase in temperature to
speed up the rate of osmosis, regardless of which direction the solvent is moving. This is
diagrammatically shown below.
!. &ater enters cell '. &ater leaves cell
3.)M solute 3.*M solute
particles particles
#i.e., sucrose$ #i.e., sucrose$
3.4M solute 3.4M solute
particles particles
#i.e., proteins$ #i.e., proteins$
-51 -51

#-51 activity #-51 activity
lower than higher than
outside$ outside$
#-51 activity #-51 activity
higher than lower than
inside cell$ inside cell$
-671T18I( -679:T18I(
THE E+,ERIMENT
7art I0 9ffect of Solute (oncentration
9ach group of students will be given ; chic"en eggs from which the shell has been dissolved
away. The remaining membrane #the shell membrane$ is differentially permeable. &e will
assume that each egg has approximately the same concentration of solute in this membrane, and
based on the rate of osmosis, will attempt to determine what this concentration must be.
&eight each egg separately to the nearest 3.)g and record the weights in Table ) at time <3=.
7lace eggs ), 5, ,, >, 4, and ; into separate bea"ers containing solutions of distilled water, )3?
sucrose, 53? sucrose, ,3? sucrose, >3? sucrose and un"nown sucrose solution respectively. !t
)4 minute intervals, that is after )4, ,3, >4, ;3, and @4 minutes, remove the eggs from the
bea"ers2 carefully wipe off all excess water2 and again weigh each egg separately. :ecord the
weight in Table ). 7lot the changes in weight of each of the eggs against time on a piece of
graph paper.
&hich solutions would you say were hypotonic to that of the eggsA &hich of them were
hypertonicA IsotonicA &hat would you expect to happen if an egg was put into a sixth bea"er
containing a 43? sucrose solutionA
Ta-le I. /e#&t C&an#e of E##$ (#( 0$ T%e (%nute$(
T%e (Mn)( 12 $uc 312 $uc 412 $uc 512 $uc 612 $uc Un'no7n
3
)4
,3
>4
;3
@4
Ta-le II. /e#&t C&an#e of E##$ (#( 0$ T%e (%nute$(
T%e (Mn)( 12 $uc 312 $uc 412 $uc 512 $uc 612 $uc Un'no7n
3 3 3 3 3 3 3
)4
,3
>4
;3
@4
Ta-le III. Total /e#&t C&an#e of E##$ (#( 0$ Sucro$e Concentraton (2(
Sucrose (onc. 3?Suc )3?Suc 53?Suc ,3?Suc >3?Suc
Tot. &t.
(hange
In order to fill out table ,, extract data on the @4
th
minute row of table 5 and place them on table
,.
Bab :eport for Movement of Materials !cross (ell Membranes
To assist you in your understanding of this laboratory, you are as"ed to prepare the following
graphs using Microsoft excel and answer the questions at the end of each section.
). 7repare a graph in which you plot the weight change of the six #;$ eggs #use data from
table 5$, which have been placed in solutions of varying solute #sucrose$ concentrations,
as a function of time. 6ou will have six #;$ lines on this graph #one for each egg$. This
graph indicates the weight change of eggs #g$ vs time #minutes$
#/$
&eight (hange
of 9ggs #grams$ 3
#-$

3 )4 ,3 >4 ;3 @4
a. &hat conclusion can you draw from the data in this graphA
b. &hich solutions were hypotonicA -ypertonicA IsotonicA
5. 7repare a graph in which you plot total 7e#&t c&an#e of the eggs #g$ placed in varying
solute #sucrose$ solutions against $ucro$e concentraton #?$. 6ou, in effect, will be
constructing a type of $tan*ar* cur0e) Cse the data in table , to construct this graph.
#/$
Total &eight
(hange #grams$ 3
#-$

3 )3 53 ,3 >3
Sucrose (oncentration #?$
Csing this graph, you should be able to0
). Determine the $otonc !ont of the contents of a chic"en egg. #-int0 where your
curve crosses the 3 line, read down to the concentration axis and record the value you
obtain.$
5. Determine the concentration of the un"nown solution. #-int0 locate on the total
weight change axis, the value representing the total weight change of the egg placed
in the un"nown solution. :ead across to your standard curve and then down to the
concentration axis and record the value you obtain.$
Expected tables and graphs