Wanwarisa Krittiyasrisumet ,Pretty 1002

Osmosis Lab

Introduction:

Every living cell has plasma membrane, which helps in transporting substances into and out
of cell and helps communicate to other cells. It acts as a selective permeable barrier between
the inside and outside cell; meaning that it only allow certain substances to pass through. The
components of plasma membrane are phospholipids bilayers, cholesterol proteins and
carbohydrates (attached to some proteins that are modified in the golgi body). There are two
types of membrane transport: active and passive transport. Active transport requires energy
(ATP) because its the movement of molecules from low to high concentration. Examples of
active transports are sodium potassium pump and bulk transport. However, passive transport
does not use energy because the molecules travel along the concentration gradient; meaning
that they travel from high to low concentration. Simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion and
osmosis are all examples of passive transport. Simple diffusion and facilitated diffusion are
quite the same, but in simple diffusion substances move directly through the phospholipids
and only small (can be both polar and non-polar) will use this kind of diffusion. In facilitated
diffusion, substances cannot move directly through the phospholipids bilayers, so they have
to use channel or carrier proteins. Substances that use this kind of diffusion are large or ions
molecules. Osmosis is the movement of water across the membrane from high to low
concentration of water or to the side with more solutes. Only water molecules can use this
kind of membrane transport. There are three kinds of solution that osmosis takes place in.
According to Brundage A., (2003 2017), hypertonic solution is the solution that contains
more solute and less water than another solution (para.2). Therefore, when cell or substance
is in the hypertonic solution, the water molecules will move out of the cell and the cell will
shrink because water always move to where there is a higher concentration of solute. Another
solution is hypotonic solution, it is the solution with less solute than the substance, so when
the substance or cell is put into this solution it will swell up because water move to the place
where there is more solutes, and in this case it is the substance. The last solution is the
isotonic solution. In this solution, equilibrium (normal) will occur because the solution
contains the same amount of solutes as the substance. Equilibrium is the state of both water
molecules and solutes are evenly spread or water molecules moved and become equal on both
sides (Bowen R., 2010).

In this osmosis experiment, we will be using jellies and potatoes as our substances to put into
different tonic solutions. We will put our materials into two solution; hypertonic solution and
hypotonic solution and wait to see what will happen to our substances. Concentrated salt
water is representing hypertonic solution and distilled water is representing hypotonic
solution. Jellies and potatoes are representing cells or solution inside cell. When jelly or
potato is put in concentrated salt water, it becomes hypotonic and when it is put in distilled
water, it becomes hypertonic solution. Mass and volume of substance will be taken before
and after; so that we can see the changes in our jellies and potatoes. We also observe jellies
and potatoes before and after being soaked in water to see whether they swell or shrink.
Wanwarisa Krittiyasrisumet ,Pretty 1002

References:

Bowen R. (2010, Jan 30). Osmosis. Retrieved from

http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/misc_topics/osmosis.html

Brundage A.(2003 2017). Hypotonic Solution: Definition, Example & Diagram. Retrieved
from http://study.com/academy/lesson/hypotonic-solution-definition-example-diagram.html