Vivien Coombs

AP Biology Period 2
Schulte
Experiment #2
Date of Experiment: December 13-14, 18

Title:
The effects of solutions and concentrations on various control groups explaining osmosis
and diffusion
 Abstract
This lab explores the purpose and process of osmosis and diffusion, hypertonic, isotonic
and hypotonic solutions, and the concentrations of the solutes involved in this experiment. In
procedure 2 of the lab, various pairs of solutions were created in which one of the solutions was
in dialysis tubing ( this acted as the “cell”) and the other solution surrounded the cell. The
purpose of this was to see what solutions were hypertonic solutions, which were hypotonic,
solutions and if they would cause osmosis or diffusion. The weights of the cells were calculated
before and after soaking in the solutions.

In procedure 3A, the leaves of an Elodea plant were covered in various solutions and then
examined underneath a microscope; examining the plants underneath the microscope showed the
effect of the solutions on the plants turgor pressure. The purpose of this lab was to closely
examine the effects of the various solutions on the turgor pressure of the cell as well as the
osmosis and diffusion that may occur. Procedure 3B took cut up sweet potatoes and placed them
in a solution much like in procedure 2. Unlike procedure 2, this procedure did not have various
solutions individually being placed in the cups of different solutions, instead identical pieces of
sweet potato were individually placed in five different solutions. In addition, while doing the
experiment, the concentrations of the solutions were all unknown, so no immediate predictions
could be made.

Not any of the three experiments resulted in diffusion of any sort; all of the results
showed some , if not a lot of, osmosis occurring. None of the experiments resulted in drastic
changes, but several of the experiments showed definite signs of osmosis. In addition, there was
one instance that resulted in no net movement due to the fact that they were both isotonic
solutions.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis I created before the experiment for procedure 2 was that the solutions
inside of the dialysis tubing would be hypertonic which would cause the net movement to flow
into the cell.
The hypothesis for procedure 3A is that the Elodea leaf would swell with the sucrose and
5% ovalbumin but would shrivel with the gluclose and NaCl; meaning sucrose and 5%
ovalbumin would be hypotonic solutions and glucose and NaCl would be hypertonic solutions.
The hypothesis for proceudre 3B is that the solutions would all be hypotonic and cause
the sweet potatoes to take in more water instead of extract any.
 Materials and Equipment

Procedure 2:
-distilled water
-1M sucrose
-1M NaCl
-1M glucose
-5% ovalbumin (egg white protein)
-20 cm-long dialysis tubing
-cups
-balances

Procedure 3A:
-Elodea (water plant)
-forceps
-1M glucose
-1M sucrose
-1M NaCl
-1M ovalbumin
-Microscope
-pipette
-microscope slides

Procedure 3B;
-sweet potatoes
-knife
-balances
-metric ruler
-cups
-Color-coded sucrose solutions of different, but unlabeled, concentrations prepared by a teacher
 Procedure and Methods:Procedure 2
● Step One: Choose up to four pairs of different solutions. One solution from each pair will
be in the model cell of dialysis tubing, and the other will be outside the cell in the cup.
The fifth model cell will have water inside the cell and outside the cell, which will serve
as the control group. Before starting, using prior knowledge predict whether the water
will diffuse into or out of the cell. Be sure to label the cups to indicate what solution is
inside the cell and inside the cup.
● Step Two: Make dialysis tubing cells by tying a knot in one end of five pieces of dialysis
tubing. Fill each “cell” with 10 mL of the solution you chose for the inside, and knot the
other end, leaving enough space for water to diffuse into the cell.
● Step Three: Weigh each cell, record the initial weight, and then place with the second
solution for that pair. Weigh the cell after 30 minutes and record the final weight.
● Step Four: Calculate the percentage change in weight using the following formula:
(final - initial)/ initial x 100. Record your results.

Procedure and Methods: Procedure 3A

● Using forceps, pick separate leaves off of the Elodea plant and place one leaf on each
microscope slide.
● On slide number 1, use a pipette and place 2 drops of glucose on the Elodea leaf; place a
glass slide cover over the leaf and solution.
● On slide number 2, use a different pipette and place 2 drops of sucrose on the Elodea leaf
and then place a glass slide cover over the leaf and solution.
● On slide number 3, use a pipette and place 2 drops of NaCl on the Elodea leaf then place
a glass slide cover over the leaf and the solution.
● On the last slide, use a pipette and place 2 drops of 5% ovalbumin on the Elodea leaf and
then place a glass slide cover over the leaf and the solution.
● Place slide number 1 under the microscope and adjust until a clear picture of the cells of
the leaf can be seen; record what is seen.
● Place slide number 2 under the microscope and adjust the microscope until the cells can
be seen under the lens; record what is seen.
● Repeat step above with slides 3 and 4 and record what is seen.
 Procedure and Methods: Procedure 3B
● Start by cutting up the sweet potatoes into square pieces that are roughly the same size
until you have at least 5 same-sized pieces.
● Next, have your teacher prepare four different concentrations of sucrose, making each
concentration a different color. Be sure that you are unaware of what the concentrations
are during the experiment.
● Pour 100 mL of each solution into a clear cup and label the cups ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’;
then pour 100 mL of distilled water into a fifth cup and label it ‘Water”.
● Then, get out the scale and weigh each piece of sweet potato separately and record the
weight of each.
● Next, put one piece of potato in each of the solutions and the water and let the potatoes sit
in the solutions for 30 minutes.
● After 30 minutes, one at a time take the pieces of potato out of the solutions and weigh
them on the scale; record the weights.
● Record the difference of the before weight and the after weight.

Potential Hazards: The chemicals used in all of these procedures can potentially be dangerous
when contacted with skin or eyes so be sure to wear necessary protective gear (goggles, gloves,
apron). Be cautious when handling the knife to cut the sweet potatoes. Be careful when handling
the microscopes as to not damage them in any way or misuse them.

In Procedure 2 the independent variables are the solutions outside of the dialysis tubing, sucrose,
5% ovalbumin, NaCl and glucose; the dependent variables are the solutions inside of the dialysis
tubing or the “cell”, glucose, 5% ovalbumin, NaCl, and glucose again.
In Procedure 3A the independent variables are the solutions placed on the Elodea leaves,
glucose, sucrose, NaCl, and 5% ovalbumin; the dependent variable are the Elodea leaves and
their reactions to the solutions.
In Procedure 3B the independent variables are the solutions that the sweet potatoes are placed in,
sucrose and water mixtures, and the dependent variables are the sweet potatoes.
 Procedure 2
Solution Glucose* NaCl* Sucrose* Glucose* Water*
Combination and and and and and
Sucrose 5% NaCl 5% Water
Ovalbumin Ovalbumin

Weight of 11.0g 9.9g 10.7g 6.8g 7.72g

cell before

Weight of 11.4g 12.5g 10.7g 7.4g 7.7g

cell after

Percent 3.64% 26.3% 0% 8.8% -.26%

change in
weight

*-the solution that was inside the dialysis tubing

The percent change in weight for almost all of the pairs of solutions increased or stayed
the same; the only one that did not was the water and water pair which could have been due to
slight miss weighing. Osmosis occurred in three out of the five pairs of solutions; the solutions
on the outside of the dialysis tubing entered into the “cell” causing the cell to weigh more.

Procedure 3A
Solutions Glucose Sucrose NaCl 5% Water
Ovalbumin

Observations The cells The are The cells The cells are All of the
made looked decently look slightly very swollen cells were
slightly swollen but swollen and a and have tightly
swollen but are still dark speck become more packed
not too much maintaining a was seen on of an oval-ish together; not
of a change nice block the cells and shape rather much of a
in shape. shape. was not than a solid change in the
affected by block; look as cells.
the NaCl. though they
might burst.
 The above writings are a description of what the leaves looked like as I was not able to
obtain any photos of the miroscope image of the cells. None of the cells looked shrunken by any
of the solutions, rather they were either slightly different or very swollen due to the solutions.

Procedure 3B
Solution Solution A Solution B Solution C Solution D Water
(Clear) (Green) (Blue) (Yellow) (water)

Weight 3.1g 3.9g 4.8g 4.0g 2.6g

before

Weight 3.4g 4.4g 5.1g 4.4g 3.0g

after

Percentage 9.7% 12.8% 6.25% 10% 15.4%

change

Notes: ​-100mL of solution in each cup

-Sweet potatoes were cut into squares
-The potatoes were in the solutions for 30 minutes
The solutions were made for us so while performing the experiment we were unaware of
the concentrations of the various solutions which made it harder to predict the outcomes of the
potatoes and solutions.

Results
In procedure 2, most of the “cells” took in solution as if they were all placed in a
hypotonic solution; however, many of the solution pairs could have been both hypertonic but the
level of the concentration might have affected the solutions making them act as if they were
hypotonic. The biggest difference in percent weight was in the NaCl and 5% ovalbumin in which
the NaCl was inside the dialysis tubing; the percent change was a 26.3% increase in weight. This
experiment also resulted in a no percent change difference between the sucrose and NaCl in
which the sucrose was inside the dialysis tubing.
 In procedure 3A both the leaves surrounded with sucrose and 5% ovalbumin were
swollen when looked at underneath a microscope; the %5 ovalbumin was the most swollen and
looked as though it would burst after a few more minutes. Both the glucose and the NaCl did not
seem to have a lot of change and if there were any it would be that they were slightly sowllen as
well; however, the slide with the NaCl showed a dark speck on the cell as if it were dirt but could
not be identified. The control, the leaf with the water, showed no signs of changes only tightly
packed together cells.
Procedure 3B showed a clear differenciation between the reactions to the various
concentrations of the solutions; both the water and solution B showed the highest percent change
at 15.4% and 12.8% meaning that those solutions had the highest concentration of sucrose. One
factor influencing the percent change might have been the fact that the sweet potatoes were not
cut into the same size squares which may have caused the sweet potatoes to not take in as much
solution as they might have.

Analysis
Procedure 2 showed a lot of net movement going into the cells rather than out of the cells
meaning that the cells contained the more hypotonic of the pair of solutions in each cup.
Although many of the solutions were not hypertonic at all, the fact that they were paired with a
more hypertonic solution caused the outside solution to flow into the cells. In the cell with the
highest percent change, it was noted that was not a lot of space left in the dialysis tubing for air
which may have had an impact on the amount solution that could have been taken in but could
not achieve so. While the water in water combination was recorded as a negative percent change
difference, I believe that was due to a misreading on the scales part or extra droplets of water
causing the scale to misweigh.
In procedure 3A, the only cells to really change were the ones that had appeared
more swollen under the microscope while the other leaves apeared to stay the same. I believe
that the leaves that did not change were placed in a hypertonic solution due to the lack of
swelling and would possibly have showed more signs of shrinking if left in the solutions for a
longer period of time. The 5% ovalbumin was shown to be the most hypotonic solution as it was
seen that the cells look as if they were about to burst and were extremely swollen, and had the
most net movement into the cell of all of the leaves. The leaf that was covered in the NaCl did
have a dark spec in the cells; however I do not think that the spec had any affect on the lack of
swelling in the cells as it did not appear to be damaging the cell in any way.
In procedure 3B, the actual measurements of the solutions were not revealled so
the conclusions drawn cannot be exact; however there is evidence that shows which had the
highest and lowest concentrations of the sucrose. The highest percent change was in the water
cup in which the potato had a 15.4% increase in weight; I believe this is due to the fact that it
was only water which meant the potato could more easily take it in with the absence of sucrose.
Then next would be solution B (green) which had a 12.8% increase in weight meaning that this
solution had the least amount of sucrose in it due to the fact that the concentration was mostly
water causing easy net movemtn into the cell. The cell witht he lowest percent change in weight
was solution C (blue) which only had a 6.25% increase making it the solution with the highest
concentration of sucrose. The less amount of water in each concentration, the less solution the
sweet potato would take in since the sucrose is more hypertonic and the water is hypotonic.

Background
Both diffusion and osmosis occur in both plant and animal cells; while diffusion requires
no energy as it moves solutes from areas of high concentration to low concentration, osmosis
moves solutes from areas of low concentration to high concentration and requires energy to do
so. A hypertonic solution means that the solution has a higher solute concentration and a lower
potential of water; a hypotonic solution is the opposite meaning the solution has a lower
concentration and a higher potential of water. “The more water a concentration or solution has
the easier it is for the cell to move it in and out of the cell.” (8.4 Osmosis and Diffusion). If a cell
takes in too much of a solution then it may cause the cell to swell or even burst if it takes in
enough; the opposite can happen as well, if too much net movement moves out of the cell, then
the cell can shrivel and die. The swelling and shriveling can be seen in plants; when they don’t
get watered often then the plants leaves will start to shrivel and wilt, the same can occur when a
plant is over-watered, the cells start to burst and the plant will die just the same.
 Works Cited
L. (2017, October 19). 8.4: Osmosis and Diffusion. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from
https://chem.libretexts.org/LibreTexts/University_of_Kentucky/UK%3A_CHE_103_-_Chemistr
y_for_Allied_Health_(Soult)/Chapters/Chapter_8%3A_Properties_of_Solutions/8.4%3A_Osmos
is_and_Diffusion

Diffusion and Osmosis. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2018, from

https://www.diffen.com/difference/Diffusion_vs_Osmosis