LABORATORY REPORT IN

MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY

De Jesus, Gerard Nash R. Exercise 4

BS Psychology 1A April 13, 2023
Associate Professor Carina C. Batol April 14, 2023

OSMOSIS AND THE CELL MEMBRANE

I. Objective
1. To observe the effect of salt water on a cell membrane.

II. Materials
1. Microscope
2. Onion epidermis from an onion bulb
3. 2 Microscope slides
4. 2 Coverslips
5. Salt Solution
6. Iodine stain
7. Medicine dropper
8. Water

III. Methodology
1. Peel a thin layer of onion epidermis from the onion bulb.
2. Make two iodine-stained wet mounts by placing a drop of iodine stain on the onion epidermis. Caution: Iodine
is poisonous and causes stains.
3. To one of the wet mount slides, add one drop of the salt solution.
4. To the other wet mount slides, add one drop of water.
5. Observe the slides with the drop of water. Draw what you see under question 1 below.
1. 6 Observe the slide with a drop of salt solution. Draw what you see in question 2 below.
6. In both drawings, label all the following parts; nucleus, cell wall, cytoplasm, and cell membrane.
7. Answer the following questions.

IV. Data and Results

V. Drawing

Onion with water and Iodine Onion with salt solution and Iodine

VI. Answers to questions

1. Draw three onion cells as they are seen in water under high power.
 2. Draw three onion cells as seen in salt solution under high power.

3. Describe the effect of salt water on the plant cell.

- As a result, water is diffusing out of the cells via osmosis, reducing the amount of water in their cells and
leading them to be dehydrated.

4. Did the cell membrane allow water to pass out of the cell?
- Yes, since osmosis is a type of diffusion that allows water to pass across a membrane. Also, active transport
uses energy to help materials move across the membrane against the gradient of their concentration.

5. (a) Using what you have observed in this activity, tell what you think would happen to plants watered with
salty water.
- I suppose that if you water a plant with salt water, it will die.

(b) Explain why you would expect this to happen.

- Since if the salt level in the soil water is too high, water may run back into the soil from the plant roots. This
causes the plant to dehydrate, resulting in a decrease in yield or perhaps mortality.

VII. Interpretation of Data and Results

VIII. Conclusion
This experiment provides a clear illustration of osmosis. Through a semipermeable barrier in the onion cells,
water molecules are seen to have traveled from the area where they are highly concentrated to the area where they
have a low concentration.

IX. Reference
N/A