Estimating Osmolarity Lab

The effect of sodium chloride concentration on the rate of osmosis

and using hypertonic & hypotonic solutions to estimate the
osmolarity of potato samples

SBI3U8
30 April 2020
Introduction

Aim & Research Question

The aim of this experiment is to investigate the relationship between solute concentration and
the rate of osmosis in potatoes. By doing so, the osmolarity of the potato can be then estimated.
The research question this report will be investigating is ​“What is the effect of the concentration
of sodium chloride on the rate of osmosis in potatoes?”

Background Information
Plant cells use osmosis to transport water in or out of themselves. The principle of osmosis The
movement of water through a cell membrane depends completely on the osmotic conditions —
hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions — which manipulates the direction in which the
water moves.

Submerging a plant cell in a solution with a higher solute concentration (a hypertonic solution)
will result in the cell losing water by
osmosis and thus shrinking/becoming
plasmolyzed. Conversely, a plant cell
surrounded by a solution with a lower
solute concentration (a hypotonic solution)
will gain water by osmosis and thus will
swell/become turgid and possibly burst. Figure 1. ​Cells in various osmotic conditions.
This is because the water present in the cell or in the solution will always move from an area of
high concentration (of water) to an area of low concentration, therefore diluting the solute.

If a plant cell was surrounded by a solution with the same concentration as the cell itself, there
would be no overall movement of water across the cell membrane. This solution would be
defined as being isotonic. However, there is no way of knowing the concentration at which a
solution would be isotonic until experimentation is carried out and the potatoes are submerged
in a variety of solutions — some hypertonic, some hypotonic — and graph the percentage
changes in length or mass. The point at which the percentage change is ‘zero’ on the graph is

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the osmolarity of the cell. This is called the “isotonic point” — when the concentration inside and
outside of the cell are equal, so the net movement of water is zero.

Hypothesis
As the concentration of the sodium chloride increases, the length of the potato will decrease.
This is because when a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution (i.e. a solution with a higher solute
concentration), water will move out of the cell in an effort to dilute the surrounding solution, thus
leading to the shrinking of the cell and thus the decrease of its length.

As such, it can be predicted that the greatest percentage changes will be when the solute
concentrations are either very low or very high — when it is the former, a large amount of water
will move into the cell, making it swell. When the concentration is very high, a large amount of
water will move out of the cell.

Variables
A. Independent Variable: ​concentration of sodium chloride
B. Dependent Variable: ​percentage change in length of the potato samples

Controlled Variables

Variable Effect on experiment How it will be controlled

The higher the temperature, the The water used for the solutions
Temperature faster the movement of water and the environment in which the
molecules across the samples were left were at room
semipermeable membrane. temperature.

Leaving the samples in their

solutions for a shorter or longer Using a timer, all the potato
Time amount of time may affect the samples were left in their
amount of water that moves in/out respective solutions for 24 hours.
of the cell.

A larger sample would have a
Size of the smaller surface area to volume
potato sample ratio and thus would affect the
amount of water crossing the cell’s
membrane.
In order to keep the data for the
various trials consistent and
reliable, the same length of
potatoes were used for each
solution concentration.

Plant tissues Samples from different potatoes All 25 samples were taken from the

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 used could have differing osmolarities, same potato.
thus affecting its change in length.

Materials & Procedure

Materials
● 10 g salt (NaCl) ● Scale
● 500 mL water (H​2​O) ● Measuring cup
● 1 potato ● Spoon
● 5 bowls ● Knife & cutting board
● Ruler with millimetre markings

Procedure
1. Using a knife and cutting board, the potato was carefully cut into 25 ~15 mm cubes.
2. Using a ruler, the length of each potato was measured to
the nearest millimetre and recorded.
3. 5 potato cubes were placed in each bowl, evenly spaced
out.
4. 1 g of salt was measured in the measuring cup with the
scale and 100 mL of water was poured into the cup.
5. The solution was stirred with a spoon until the salt was Figure 2. ​Setup of experiment.
completely dissolved.
6. Once the salt was completely dissolved, the solution was poured into one of the bowls.
7. Steps 4 – 6 were repeated four more times, with 0 g, 2 g, 3 g, and 4 g of salt.
8. The potato samples were left submerged in their respective solutions for 24 hours.
9. After 24 hours, the samples were taken out of their solutions, dried on a paper towel,
and using a ruler, their lengths were measured to the nearest millimetre and recorded.

Results & Conclusion

Qualitative Observations
Before: ​All samples were firm to the touch, and were a pale yellow-gold colour.

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After: ​The potato samples in the solution with the highest concentration turned a dark brown
colour and were mushy and soggy to the touch. The samples in the
three solutions with the higher salt concentration visibly shrunk and
were soft to the touch. The samples in the solution with no salt were
slightly larger and were firm to the touch.

Figure 3. ​Potato samples after 24 hours.

Raw Quantitative Data

Final Length
Mass of solute used Initial Length (± 0.5 mm)
per 100 mL H​2​O (± 1 g) (± 0.5 mm)
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

0 16.0 18.0 18.0 18.0 18.0 18.0

1 14.0 15.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 14.0

2 15.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0

3 15.0 12.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0

4 14.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 12.0 11.0

Table 1. ​Initial and final lengths of the potato samples for each solution.

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Processed Data
*This is simply a summary of the quantitative data. For a more detailed data table, see Appendix A.

Mass of solute Concentration Initial Length Average Average

used per 100 (M) (± 0.5 mm) Final Length Percentage
mL H​2​O (± 1 g) (± 0.5 mm) Change (%)

0 0.0 16.0 18.0 12.5

1 0.2 14.0 14.4 2.9

2 0.3 15.0 13.0 -13.3

3 0.5 15.0 12.8 -14.7

4 0.7 14.0 11.8 -15.7

Table 2. ​Concentrations of solutions compared with initial and average final lengths of the
potato samples. The average percentage change in length of the samples for each solution is
also shown.

Sample calculation of the average percentage change in length:

(f inal − initial)
% change = initial × 100
(12.8 − 15.0)
% change = 15.0 mm × 100
∴ % change = − 14.7%

Sample calculation of the sodium chloride concentration (M) of the various solutions:
g m
M olar mass of N aCl = 58.44 mol n= M
g 30 g
M ass of N aCl used = 3.0 100 mL nN aCl = g
58.44 mol
g
3.0 g × 10 = 30 L ∴ nN aCl = 0.51 mol → C N aCl = 0.51 mol
L

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Figure 3. ​Scatter plot of the average percentage change in length for each solution
concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl).

Uncertainties
The scale measured to the nearest gram, giving it an uncertainty of ±1 g (one unit of the
smallest increment for digital measuring devices). The ruler measured to the nearest millimetre,
giving it an uncertainty of ±0.5 mm (half of the smallest increment for physical/scale measuring
devices). It should be noted that in this situation, using a measuring device with a lower
uncertainty is preferable, which is one of the reasons as to why length was measured instead of
mass.

Conclusion
The data in Table 2 indicates that solutions with a higher concentration of sodium chloride leads
to a decreased length of the potato samples and thus a greater percentage change, which
supports the hypothesis. It also shows that submerging the samples in solutions of more
extreme concentrations, either a very low or very high solute content, will result in higher
percentage changes. Figure 3 illustrates this relationship, as there is a strong negative
correlation between average percentage change and the concentration of sodium chloride.

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The purpose of this lab was to estimate the osmolarity of the potato sample. This can be done
by determining the isotonic point on the graph — the point at which the average percentage
change is 0. At this concentration, the solution will be isotonic (i.e. the solute concentration
inside and outside the cell is equal), and the amount of water moving in and out of the cell is the
same. For this experiment, that point was at approximately 0.23 M.

Because there appears to be a drastic change in average percentage length between the 0.2 M
and the 0.3 M solutions, this experiment can be improved by submerging the samples in a
wider/more specific range of solution concentrations. This experiment can be repeated with
solutions ranging from 0.2 M to 0.3 M (e.g. 0.22 M, 0.26 M, and so on) to narrow down a more
specific and precise isotonic point. A strength of this lab was submerging the 5 samples for each
set in the same solution instead of making the same solution 5 times. This ensured that the
concentration for all 5 trials stayed constant.

Furthermore, taking samples from only one potato not only reduced the amount of food waste
produced, but also ensured that the samples stayed consistent as different tissues may have
differing osmolarities, thus impacting the reliability of the experiment. However, this proved to be
a challenge as smaller samples had to be used, making it difficult to witness observable
changes in mass, especially since the scale used could only measure to the nearest gram. This
was a main reason why length was measured instead of mass as there would not have been a
significant observable change in the mass of the potatoes. If the scale was more precise (i.e.
measuring to the nearest milligram), mass would be more appropriate than length as the
uncertainty for digital equipment is less than that of manual measuring devices (such as a ruler),
thus resulting in a lower overall error. Nonetheless, measuring length in millimetres using a ruler
introduces some human error as it is impossible to be consistent and completely accurate with
every reading, and the potato samples may not be perfectly cut. This is why in future
experiments, the use of a milligram scale would be extremely beneficial as the data would be
more consistent and accurate, and the physical nature of the samples would not be an
influencing factor.

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References
Osmolarity of plant tissue. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2020, from
https://www.philpoteducation.com/mod/book/view.php?id=779

Allott, A., & Mindorff, D. (2014). IB Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Appendix A

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