Diffusion Through Cell Membrane

John Sommers
Honors Biology Period 4
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Highschool
4/30/18
Introduction:

To understand the lab, the student must understand multiple definitions. The words and

definitions are as follow. Passive transport is when ions or molecules along from a higher to

lower concentration moving along with the concentration gradient (Biology Online). Selectively

permeable means that the membrane allows only some kinds, not all, of molecules to pass

through (Diffusion Through Cell Membranes Packet). Osmosis is the diffusion of water

molecules through a selectively permeable membrane. The three different osmotic environments

are hypotonic, more number of solutes rushing into the cell, isotonic, equal number of solutes

entering and leaving the cell, and hypertonic, more solutes leaving the cell. The importance of

understanding osmosis in real world is for example putting salt on fish to preserve it. Dialysis

tubing is a semi permeable bag that was used to represent a cell membrane during osmosis for

this laboratory. The three different purposes for the lab are for part one is to help students

understand osmosis using a dialysis tubing cell, to determine how diff concentration gradients

effect the rate of osmosis, to see the effects of osmosis in the three environments, and how the

time or the closer you get to equilibrium effects osmosis and in part two what else the dialysis

tubing is permeable to. In part one the dependent variable is the mass of our simulated cell and

the independent variable is the amount of glucose in the solution or the type of environment the

cell was placed in. In part two the dependent variable is the color change and you the

independent variable is the placement of the starch. The constants in part one is the 5mL of

solution in the cells, the solution in the beakers (200mL), how the dialysis tubing was tied, how

they were timed and weighed (all six bags at the same time), drying them off before weighing

them. The constants in part two is the amount of iodine (20 drops), starch (~half spoon), how the

dialysis tubing was tied, washing off the bag before putting them in the solution. The part one
control group is the water in water and the experimental group is all the other bags except water

in water. The part two control group is our original clear water and white starch in the beginning

and the experimental group is the ending product which is the yellow water and black starch at

the end. In part one I began the experiment with multiple hypothesis. Each bag had their own

hypothesis before experimented on. The hypothesis for water in water was if a semi permeable

bag of water is placed in a beaker of 200 mL of water, then the bag would weigh approximately

the same after compared to before because it was placed into an isotonic environment. The

hypothesis for 20 in water was if a semipermeable bag of 5 mL of 20 percent glucose solution is

placed in a 200 mL beaker of water then it would weigh more after weighing it because it was

placed in a hypotonic environment and this means more water would rush through the “cell

membrane”. The hypothesis for the 40 in water was if a semi permeable bag of 5 mL of 40

percent glucose solution was placed in a 200 mL beaker of water then it would weigh more after

the experiment because it was placed in a hypotonic environment. The hypothesis for 60 in water

was if a semi permeable bag of 5 mL of 60 percent glucose solution was placed in a beaker of

200 mL of water then the bag would weigh more afterwards because of the water traveling

through the dialysis tubing in this hypotonic environment. The hypothesis for water in 60 was if

a bag of 5 mL of water in dialysis tubing was placed in a 200 mL beaker of 60 percent glucose

solution then the bag would weigh less after the experiments because it was in a hypertonic

environment and the water concentration is higher inside of the “cell”, so to reach equilibrium,

water would travel out of the “cell”. The hypothesis for 80 in 60 was if a semi permeable bag of

80 percent glucose solution was placed in a 200 mL beaker of solution then the dialysis tubing

bag would weigh more afterwards because the water concentration is higher in the 60 percent

glucose solution, so the water would travel through the dialysis tubing into the “cell” causing it
to weigh more. For part two there was one hypothesis. The hypothesis for part two was If you

place half a spoon of starch in dialysis tubing in about a half of cup water with 20 drops of iodine

solution then the color of the solution in the bag will turn from white to black and the solution

outside of the bag will turn from yellow to clear because the “cell” was placed in a hypotonic

environment and the solution outside of the cell will rush into the dialysis tubing bag, causing the

white starch to turn black because of the iodine, and the solution outside will turn clear because

of the iodine rushing into the “cell”.

Materials

• Beakers (6) pt 1, 5 pt 2, 6

• glucose solution

§ 20%

§ 40%

§ 60%

§ 80%

§ water solution

• dialysis tubing

• scale

• string

• paper towels

• timer

• Pipets
 • iodine

• starch

• Graduated cylinders

• osmotic solution/environment

• amount of glucose in each solution

Procedures

Part 1 Procedure: Effect of Concentration on Rate of Diffusion (Diffusion Through Cell

Membrane Packet)

1. Pick up 5 pieces of dialysis tubing that have been soaked in in water for an extensive

period of time

2. Then fill each tube with its designated amount.

-Bag 1= ½ full of tap water (5ml)

-Bag 2= ½ full of 20% starch solution (5ml)

-Bag 3= ½ full of 40% starch solution (5ml)

-Bag 4= ½ full of 60% starch solution (5ml)

-Bag 5= ½ full of tap water (5ml)

-Bag 6= ½ full of 80% starch solution(5ml)

3. Once you have filled the bags you will need to tie each of the bags with a piece of rope.

To tie the bag correctly you will fold down, across, down then tie a knot around twice.

DO not tie the knot not so low and tight that the bags will not be able to expand, swell or

lose weight. Once you have completed the following, set each bag on a separate paper

towel so you are able to easily identify the different bags.

 4. You will then need to fill 4 beakers with 200ml of tap water and 1 beaker with 200ml of

60% glucose solution.

5. Weigh each bag separately so you have each of their starting weights. You will need to

record each of their weights in your packet.

6. Once you have each bag siting with its assigned beaker you are ready to start the lab.

7. You will need to have someone ready to time so each bag is in the beaker for the correct

amount of time. Once you are ready, you will place bag 1 in beaker 1, bag 2 in beaker 2,

bag 3 in beaker 3, bag 4 in beaker 4, and bag 5 & 6 in beaker 5.

8. Once each 3-minute time segment is over, at the same time take out each bag and dry of

lightly on its designated paper towel. Then weigh each bag separately to get the correct

weight. Record new mass in packet to find the differences in the weights each time

segment.

9. At the same time, you will then replace each bag in the correct beaker and resume the

timer till the next pull out time.

10. Repeat steps 8 & 9, 2 more times till lab is over. You will then have Table 1: Mass

Changes over a 9-minute period filled out and ready to be interpreted.

Part 2 Procedure: A Selectively Permeable Membrane (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane

Packet)

1. Grab 1 piece of dialysis tubing, tie one end of the tubing like in part 1.

2. Fill the tube with a half spoon of the starch solution.

3. Tie open end as described in part 1.

4. Rinse bag off to insure no starch solution is on outside of the bag. Then wipe dry the bag

and set on paper towel.

 5. Fill half a beaker with tap water and add 20 drops of Iodine. Then place bag in water.

6. Fill out Table 2: Cell Model Permeability Data (Column= Starting Color) (Row= solution

in dialysis bag and solution in beaker)

7. Let sit for 48 hours and then remove cell and dry off

8. Examine bags and complete Table 2: Cell Model Permeability Data (Column= Color

after 48 hours) (Row= solution in dialysis bag and solution in beaker)

9. Lab is complete

Results

The data that is being utilized was from various groups in various classes that were looked over

by the teacher for use of all students. The numbers were calculated by starting off each average

as 0, which would result in a consistent number. The average was accounted from each group for

each period of time. The first beaker, water in water, there was a weight gain of 208 milligrams

from 0-3 minutes. From 3-6 minutes, there was a weight gain of 83 milligrams. From 6-9

minutes, there was a weight loss of 42 milligrams. In beaker 2, 20% glucose solution in water,

there was a 317 milligram weight gain from 0-3 minutes. From 3-6 minutes, there was a weight

gain of 217 milligrams. From 6-9 minutes, there was a 167 milligram weight gain. In beaker 3,

40% glucose solution in water, there was a 408 milligram weight gain from 0-3 minutes. From 3-

6 minutes, there was a 392 milligram weight gain. From 6-9 minutes, there was a 308 milligram

weight gain. In the fourth beaker, 60% glucose solution in water, there was a 567 milligram

weight gain from 0-3 minutes. From 3-6 minutes, there was a 442 milligram weight gain. From

6-9 minutes, there was a 400 milligram weight gain. In beaker five, water in 60% glucose

solution, there was a 150 milligram weight loss from 0-3 minutes. From 3-6 minutes, there was a

383 milligram weight loss. From 6-9 minutes, there was a 250 milligram weight loss. Lastly in
beaker five, 80% glucose solution in 60% glucose solution, there was a weight gain of 241

milligrams from 0-3 minutes. From 3-6 minutes, there was a 75 milligram weight gain. From 6-9

minutes, there was a 83 milligram weight gain. Below is a table and figure that show this data

from each trial and time period. In table one the chart shows the final weight after each time

period. Figure one is a graph comparing the weight gain and weight loss of each attempt.

Table One: Average weights across classes

This chart shows average weight among 5 class periods. The teacher took all groups numbers
and put them in an excel document. To ensure everyone is using the same numbers.

Figure One:
This figure shows average weight among 5 class periods. The teacher took all groups numbers
and put them in an excel document. The figure puts the numbers in Table One into a figure for
interpretation.

Discussion

This lab was supposed to seem like a cell membrane, to allow us to see first-hand how it works.

This experiment was not done over a very long period of time which may have hurt the results.

By doing the experiment longer would allow for us to see the numbers change more. The bags in

part one lost and gained weight because of the environments they were placed in. “A hypotonic

solution is a solution that has a lower solute concentration compared to another solution. A

solution cannot be hypotonic, isotonic or hypertonic without a solution for comparison.

Hypotonic is a description of the solute content of one solution in relation to another solution.”

(Hypotonic Solution - Definition and Examples”, 2017) “If there is a higher concentration of

dissolved salt outside of the cell (a hypertonic environment), then H20 will diffuse ‘out’ from the

cell and the cell will dehydrate and shrink and cellular metabolism will cease.” (Hypertonic and

Hypotonic Environments) “When two environments are isotonic, the total molar concentration of

dissolved solutes is the same in both of them. When cells are in isotonic solution, movement of

water out of the cell is exactly balanced by movement of water into the cell. A 0.9% solution of

NaCl (saline) is isotonic to animal cells. When exposing animal tissues to solutions, it is

common to use an isotonic solution such as Ringer's buffered saline so as to prevent osmotic

effects and consequent damage to cells.” (“Isotonic, Hypotonic, & Hypertonic Solutions”)The

rate of osmosis slows down as the simulated cells get closer to equilibrium. Overtime it gets

closer and closer to equilibrium and the amount of weight gaining will go down. The mass

continues to increase, but per period not as much weight is gained. The rate of osmosis differs

between the different concentration gradients. The 20% glucose solution is a low concentration
gradient and 60% glucose is a high concentration gradient. Due to 60% glucose solution having a

higher concentration than 20% glucose solution. That then means the rate of osmosis in 60%

glucose solution is higher. “The movement of osmosis is affected by the concentration gradient;

the lower the concentration of the solute within a solvent, the faster osmosis will occur in that

solvent.” (“A COMPLETE RESOURCE GUIDE ON OSMOSIS”) The 80% glucose solution in

60% did not gain as much weight from 0-3 minutes as the 20% glucose solution in water. Due to

the beaker having two bags in it, one with a hypotonic environment and one with a hypertonic

environment. Being in a hypotonic environment made the inside of the simulated cell in part two

turn blue. There was a higher concentration of water outside of the cell. Allowing for water to

pass by the semi permeable cell membrane, bringing iodine solution along. This shows that the

semi permeable dialysis tubing is also selectively permeable to iodine solution. “A selectively

permeable membrane, also termed a semipermeable membrane, is a type of polymeric (a large

molecular structure made of many repeated smaller pieces) membrane that permits the diffusion

of molecules or ions through it by means of diffusion (the mixing of different substances).”

(“Selectively Permeable Membrane”) The four possible sources or error could be the wrong

amount of solution in the dialysis tubing, mixing up the bags, not taking them out at the same

time, weighing them incorrectly, not calculating the mass changes after taking them out each

time. If I was to change something about this lab to make it better, it would be so that the lab was

over a longer period of time to see more of a drastic affect and truly see the visible osmosis.
 Work Cited

A COMPLETE RESOURCE GUIDE ON OSMOSIS. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2018, from

https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/resource-a-complete-resource-guide-to-osmosis.htm

B, J. (n.d.). Hypertonic and Hypotonic Environments. Retrieved April 29, 2018, from

https://www2.hawaii.edu/~johnb/micro/m140/syllabus/week/handouts/m140.9.2.html

E. (2017, April 29). Hypotonic Solution - Definition and Examples. Retrieved April 29, 2018,

from https://biologydictionary.net/hypotonic-solution/

P. (n.d.). Isotonic, Hypotonic, & Hypertonic Solutions. Retrieved April 29, 2018, from

https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/isotonic-hypotonic-hypertonic-solutions

Selectively Permeable Membrane. (n.d.). In Alleydog.com's online glossary. Retrieved from:

https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition-

cit.php?term=Selectively+Permeable+Membrane