GROUP: AS257 TEAM:

Members :

No Student ID Name Mobile No.

1 2022621802 NURUL ANISSHA BINTI MOHD IDRUS 0177774221

2 2022836244 NUR ATHIRAH BINTI ABD AZIZ 0164314031

3 2022607976 SITI NURMAISARAH BINTI AHMAD SHUKRI 0132853257

4 2022496278 SITI NOR SYAFIQA AMIRA BINTI AMIRUDDIN 0135281966

LAB REPORT SUBMISSION

Practical #: 3

Title of Experiment: Osmosis

Date of Experiment: 1/11/2022

Submitted to: Dr. Nurul Aili binti Zakaria

 (include this with every report)

Exceeds
Attribute Meet Expectations Below Expectations Marks
Expectations
Marks 5 3 1
1. Punctuality Submitted early Submitted on time Submitted late
Was the report submitted on time?
2. Organization of report Fully adhere to Mostly adhere to Not organized
Is the prescribed format used? format format

3. Originality of report Original, with creative Mostly written in own More than 50% of
Is the report original, or are most insights words, attempts to report was duplicated
parts duplicated from the manual? summarise verbatim
4. Introduction Good, concise OK. Materials included Inadequate summary
a. Did the students provide summary of but not summarised or /duplicated from
background materials? background too long. sources.
b. Is the objective well described? Clear and accurate Clear, but not accurate Not clear/ inaccurate

5. Methods Well written, clear Acceptable, some High number of

a. Was the methods rewritten in the and organised. organisation. mistakes/ simply
past tense? duplicated the
manual
b. Was the methods accurately Almost all steps were Acceptable, most steps Little attempt to
described? accurately described. were described. describe/ mostly
duplicated the
manual
6. Results
a. Is Figure in proper format? Well formatted, clear Proper format No.

b. Is a title provided? Title is in proper Title is adequate No.

format and accurate
c. Is a caption provided? Well described and Described. No caption or
informative irrelevant caption.
7. Discussion Data were well and Some attempts. mainly No attempt to
a) Analysis - are the data well creatively discussed. descriptive. discuss.
explained?
b) Interpretation - are the significance Significance well Some attempts. mainly No attempt to
of the data discussed? discussed. descriptive. discuss.

8. Conclusion Correct conclusion, Conclusion is provided, No conclusion/

Was a conclusion provided? related to the but not directly related conclusion not
objective to the objective related to objective(s)
9. Grammars, spellings Few, less than 3 Three to 10 mistakes More than 10
(per page) mistakes mistakes
10. References Used proper software Manually with mistakes No or inadequate
Is the report correctly cited? citation
SUM
TOTAL MARKS

Evaluated by:_________________________________________ Date : ________________________

Objectives

i. To learn how cell membrane regulates the movement of subtances.

ii. To examine the condition of the human or plant cells soaked in different osmotic
solutions.

Introduction

The cell membrane is a selective permeable structure because only selected

materials can pass through it. Water molecules can easily pass through the membrane
and the movement of water is called osmosis. The direction of movement of water
molecules is determined by the concentration of the solutes of both sides of the
membrane. The water potential inside and outside of the cell is said to be isotonic, that is
the movement of water molecules in both direction is at the same rate. The vacuolar
membrane is also a selective structure and the condition in the vacuole is isotonic to the
cell environment.

In a hypertonic environment, water molecules will move out of the cell and the cell
shrinks. The shrinking of cell is due to the hypertonic environment outside the plant and
animal cells. The shrinking of plant cell is called plasmolysis while the shrinking of animal
cell is called crenation.

When a plant cell is in a hypotonic environment, it will expand but the increase in
size is restricted by the cell wall (turgid). On the other hand, animal cells which are in the
hypotonic environment will expand and burst and this is called lysis or haemolysis.
Methods

A. Dialysis Tubing

i. 10 - 15 cm lengths of dialysis tubing was cutted for three. The one at the end of the
tubes were tied.
ii. The dialysis tubings were filled with a 1.5 M sucrose solution.
iii. The other end of dialysis tubing were tied. As much air was excluded as possible.
iv. The dialysis tubings were rinsed with distilled water.
v. The tubes were weighed.
vi. The tubes were placed with each of the following solutions:
a) Solution I: Distilled water
b) Solution II: 0.2 M sucrose
c) Solution III: 0.8 M sucrose
vii. At 15 minutes interval, the tubes were removed, wiped with the paper towel and
weighed. The difference between initial and final weight were recorded.

B. Blood Cells

i. Microscope was ready.

ii. Four clean microscope slides were labelled as A, B, C and D.
iii. A fingertip was cleaned with alcohol.
iv. A puncture was made in a fingertip.
v. A drop of blood was placed near an end of slide D.
vi. The glass slide was covered with a cover slip and the shape of red blood cells
(RBCs) was observed immediately.
vii. The observation as shape of cells without treatment was recorded.
viii. A drop of solution A was putted on slide A and a cover slip was added.
ix. The slide was placed on the microscope stage and a small drop of blood was
added carefully to the edge of the cover slip. The blood cells were drawn under the
cover slip by capillary action.
x. The RBCs were viewed under microscope as they come into contact with solution
A.
xi. The observation was recorded.
xii. Steps v - viii was repeated with solutions B and C.
C. Plant Cells

i. A small piece of onion was taken and the inner side of its membrane was peeled
off using forceps.
ii. The membrane flat was layed on the surface of a clean glass slide. A drop of
solution A was added.
iii. A cover slip was lowered carefully onto the specimen.
iv. The cells observed were took note, sketched and labelled.
vi. The specimen was observed by the low power and then was changed to the high
power of the microscope.
vi. The steps was repeated with solutions B and C. For the control, only methylene
blue stain (without treatment) was added.
Results

A. Dialysis Tubing

Dialysis tube Initial weight (g) Final weight (g)

A 17.9150 18.5119

B 16.0025 16.0022

C 16.9549 13.0257

B. Blood Cells
C. Plant Cells
Discussion

A. Dialysis Tubing

From activity A we observed that the weight of dialysis tube A increased from
17.9150 g to 18.5119 g. Therefore, we can say that the solution in the beaker is hypotonic
to the solution in the dialysis tube. (Editors, 2019) said that a hypotonic solution has a
lower solute concentration than inside the cell. The difference in concentration between
the compartments causes water to enter the cell.

Next, we observed the dialysis tube B decreased a little in weight regardless of the
solution in the beaker is actually isotonic to the solution in the dialysis tube. This result
may be some error because the knot we use to tie the dialysis tubing is not tight. A cell in
an isotonic solution is in equilibrium with its surroundings, meaning the solute
concentrations inside and outside are the some where there is no concentration gradient
and therefore, no large movement of water in or out but water molecules do freely move in
and out of the cell, however, the rate of movement is the same in both directions (Editors,
2019).

Lastly, results shows that the weight of dialysis tube c decreased. Therefore we
can conclude that the solution in the beaker is hypertonic to the solution in the dialysis
tube. (Editors, 2019) claim that hypertonic solutions have a higher solute concentration
than inside the cell. This causes water to rush out making the cell wrinkle or shrivel.

The data obtained for activity B shows that different osmotic solutions will result to
different effects on blood cells (human cells). All red blood cells were examined under a
microscope with 40X magnification. Based on Figure 1, the blood cells were seen in a
normal condition and shape. The shape of cells was biconcave discs and small, which
can fit through tiny capillaries. Additionally, this will provide a large surface area to volume
ratio, and allows gasses readily diffuse into and out of them. This result will be the control
and reference point in order to compare with any changes to other blood cells samples of
the experiment.
B. Blood Cells

Next, from Figure 2, the observation of the blood cells was seen swelled and burst.
This because, when the cells was placed in distilled water (Solution A), the intracellular
concentration was higher than extracellular concentration . Since there were no ions in the
solution, it was highly hypotonic, which formed a net movement of water into the red blood
cells through osmosis. This resulting in the loss of all of the red blood cells' ability to the
consistency of their membranes. As the osmotic gradient across the membrane is
increased, the water flows into the cells, causing the cells to start swelling and eventually
exploded. This caused the membrane of the cells to rupture. Overall, this solution A is a
hypotonic solution to red blood cells where the blood cells undergo hemolysis.

In Figure 3, the result showed that the blood cells remained in normal condition and
unchanged shape when placed in 0.85% NaCl solution (Solution B). The reason was
because, the concentration of solute and water were equally same with both intracellular
and extracellularly . The particles are evenly distributed on both sides of the cell
membrane in this condition. So, there was no net movement of water flowed between the
red blood cells and the NaCl solution. The movement of water was through osmosis.
Therefore, the red blood cells and the environment were in equilibrium state and it was
determined that the solution was isotonic towards red blood cells.

Lastly, from Figure 4, the red blood cells was seen shriveled after place in 2.0%
NaCl solution (Solution C). This shows that, there was a net movement of water.
Compared to the extracellular area, the concentration of solute particles inside the cell is
lower. This allows for the water to flow out of the cells through osmosis. After the solution
and the red blood cells are balanced, the cells will shriveled which result to higher solute
concentration inside the cells. The cells will also lose their normal biconcave shape and
due to the quick loss of water, the cells becomes smaller. Hence, the red blood cells
undergo crenation and it was determined that the solution was hypertonic solution wo red
blood cells.
C. Plant Cell

In activity (C), we now observed the condition of the onion cells when they soaked
in different osmotic solutions. First, we make a sample of normal onion cells without
putting any solution into it to act as a control to help us differentiate an experiment or
observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent
variable. This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between
control measurements and the other measurements. When we compare the onion cells
with solution A which is distilled water, we could see the cell becomes much longer. It is
because when a plant cell is placed in a solution that is hypotonic relative to the
cytoplasm, water moves into the cell and the cell swells to become turgid. But the cell
does not burst in addition to the cell membrane, plants contain an additional membrane
called the cell wall. The cell wall is a membrane that is the outermost covering of a plant
cell. It is made up of cellulose and is tough and rigid and is also quite thick to give strength
to the cell. So, when the plant cell gains water from the hypotonic solution due to osmosis,
it swells and builds up pressure against the cell wall. Hence, in this way, the cell wall gives
plant cells the ability to withstand much higher concentrations of water.

Meanwhile, when a drop of solution B was added to the onion cells, the changes in
the onion cells could barely even be seen compared to the control. From this observation,
we could conclude that solution B, 0.85% NaCl is an isotonic solution to onion cells. Plant
cells placed in a relatively isotonic solution would not change in size as the exchange of
water molecules in and out of the cell would be equal because there is no net water
displacement. Next, the onion cells looked a little shrank when solution C was added to
them. It is because a 2% NaCl solution is a relatively hypertonic solution to the onion
cells. When a plant cell is placed in a solution that is hypertonic relative to the cytoplasm,
water moves out of the cell, and the cell shrinks. In doing so, the cell becomes flaccid. In
extreme cases, the cell becomes plasmolyzed - the cell membrane disengages with the
cell wall due to a lack of water pressure on it. All this has happened because of osmosis.
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a region of higher concentration to a
region of lower concentration. Since water concentration outside the cell is more as
compared to the concentration of water inside the cell, the plant cell gains water through
osmosis in order to equalize the concentration of water inside and outside the cell.
Conclusion

From this experiment, we learned how the cell membrane regulates the movement
of substances. Substances can move into and out of cells through the cell membrane.
The three main types of movement are diffusion, osmosis, and active transport. This
means that it is selective in its permeability to substances. Cell membranes are similar to
dialysis tubing because they are selectively permeable. That means only certain
molecules are allowed to cross the membranes. Osmosis is a specific type of diffusion; it
is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a
semipermeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. Semi-permeable
membranes are very thin layers of material which allow some things to pass through
them, but prevent other things from passing through.Cell membranes allow small
molecules such as oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and glucose to pass through, but do not
allow larger molecules like sucrose, proteins and starch to enter the cell directly.

Based on the results obtained from the experiment, the weight dialysis tubing
inside the beaker with the solution I increases as distilled water is hypotonic to 0.2 M
sucrose that is filled inside the dialysis tubing. The outside dialysis tubing has a higher
water concentration than the inside dialysis tubing. The water will move inside the dialysis
tubing making the weight increase. While for dialysis tubing in solution II, we could see the
weight slightly decreases as the 0.2 M sucrose is a relatively isotonic solution. It is
because the concentration of sucrose inside and outside the dialysis tubing is the same.
We could see slight changes in the weight as the sucrose might have escaped the dialysis
tubing through the loose tie at the end of the dialysis tubing. The last dialysis tubing on
solution III showed a significant decrease in weight as a lot of water moved outside the
dialysis tubing because of the low concentration of water in the 0.8M sucrose making
solution III a relatively hypertonic solution than 0.2 M sucrose inside the dialysis tubing.
We can conclude that the dialysis tubing doesn't allow all kinds of substances to pass
readily through the pores of its membrane. The weight changes are mainly because of the
movement of water because of the difference in concentration while the sucrose remained
inside the dialysis tubing.
 The onion cells become turgid when added solution A, distilled water. Solution A is
a relatively hypotonic solution to the onion cells. Even though the cell swells as the water
moves into the cells, the cells do not burst like blood cells as the onion cells have a cell
wall that prevents the cells from rupturing. When the onion cells were added to an isotonic
solution which is 0.85% NaCl, the cells were not shown changes as the exchange of
water molecules in and out of the cell would be equal. Lastly, the onion cells become
flaccid as the hypertonic solution, 2% NaCl is added. The water from the cells moves
outside the cells making the cells shrink. In general, we could conclude that plant cells
react a little differently in an osmotic solution than animal cells as the plant cells have a
strong cell wall that protects them from bursting and changing shape.
References

1. Editors, B. D. (2019, October 5). Isotonic vs. hypotonic vs. Hypertonic Solution:
Biology. Biology Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from
https://biologydictionary.net/isotonic-vs-hypotonic-vs-hypertonic-solution/