Osmosis Investigation:

My group and I are carrying out an

investigation to find out how different
concentrations of glucose affect osmosis
in potato cells. Osmosis is the passive
process of diffusing water which means
within this experiment particles of water
will move from a lower concentrated area
through a semi-permeable membrane to
an area of higher concentration ; in this
case it will be a concentration of glucose.
Diffusion is when particles move from an
area of high concentration to low
concentration; for example when a smell
of cooking spreads through the house. Osmosis is a vital mechanism in the transport
of fluids in living organisms. This point is clearly proven when you put a plant cell in
water. Osmosis causes water to enter the plant cell, which results in swelling.
However, the cell will not burst as the plant cell walls are made up of an extremely
strong substance called cellulose. The swelling within the cell eventually stops, and
at this point, the cell is said to be turgid. This process involving osmosis is important
within a plant as it allows the stems to become strong and upright. There are many
other cases where osmosis is responsible for the basic survival of living organisms.

A semi-permeable membrane are very thin layers of material which allow some things to pass through
them but prevent other things from passing through.

Pure Water

Rich sugar
solution

Water
Enters
Key:
Water
l l
Leaves
l__l = Beaker

In rich sugar solution the
potato tubules shrink
because water leaves their
cells due to Osmosis
ll
In pure water the potato
l l = Tubule
tubules swell because water
enters their cells by Osmosis
 Concerntration of Mass Before (g) Mass After (g) Difference in Change in mass Average (g)
Sugar Solution (%) Mass (%) (g)
1 2 3 1 2 3

1 2 3 1 2 3

0 2. 2.0 2.0 4. 4.2 4.0 2.1 2.2 2.0 100 110 10 103
1 2 0

20 3. 3.0 2.5 2. 2.6 2.1 - - - -32 -13 -16 20

1 1 1.0 0.4 0.4

40 1. 1.4 1.4 1. 1.1 1.0 - - - -35 -21 -29 28

7 1 0.6 0.3 0.4

60 2. 2.6 2.5 1. 1.6 1.6 - - - -42 -38 -36 39

4 4 1.0 1.0 0,9

80 2. 2.4 2.2 1. 1.2 1.3 - - - -35 -50 -32 39

3 5 0.8 1.2 0.7

100 1. 1.6 1.5 1. 1.0 0.9 - - - -38 -38 -40 39

6 0 0.6 0.6 0.6

The average % change was calculated as follows:

Difference in Mass x 100

Original Mass

e.g.: Using 20% solution Experiment No. 1

1.8-1.3 = 0.5 0.5 x 100 = 28%

1.8

So all the % were taken 20% and then divided by 3 to give results in the final
column.
The graph shows that as the %age of sugar solution increases the average mass of
the tubules decreases. This is because water from the tubules is leaving by osmosis.
The rate of osmosis leaving the tubules increases with increasing sugar solution.

However, at 0% sugar solution the mass of the tubules increase because water is
entering the tubule by osmosis. So the osmosis is occurring in the opposite direction
in this case.

Evaluation:
Ideallyall the tubules used should be of the same size and from the same potato as
this would give a fairer test and this would improve the method. Furthermore, as a
group we should do all the experiments instead of sharing results between the class
members so that any human error is repeated within all the tests.

The results at 60% as shown on the graph did not fit the expected trend as these
values did not concur with the line of best fit.
Human errors from different groups may have affected these results.

The conclusion is that as the percentage sugar solution increases, the mass of the
tubules decrease because water is leaving the tubules by osmosis. As the
percentage sugar solution increases the rate at which water is lost from the tubules
also increases.

Other experiments which may back up my conclusion:

use a whisking in which the concentration of sugar is varied and in each case the
level is measured, this should show that as the concentration of sugar inside the
whisking tube increases, so does the level of solution in the tube indicating that the
rate of osmosis increases with increasing sugar solution.