Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 1

Diffusion Through Cell Membranes

Sophia Elias
Honors Biology 10-3
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School
4/30/18
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 2

Introduction:

The most direct forms of membrane transport are passive. This type of transport requires

no extra energy from the cell (ATP). Passive Transport is where particles are moving from a high

concentration to a low concentration across the cell membrane. The rate of passive transport

depends on the permeability of the cell membrane (Department of Biochemistry 1-2). To be

selectively permeable means that a membrane may allow some kinds of molecules to pass

through it, while preventing other kinds. “Water flows in response to differences in molarity

across a membrane” (Bowen 3). This is what determines what type of osmotic environment the

cell is in. Osmosis is the movement of water across a cell membrane from high concentrations to

low concentrations. The three different kinds of osmotic environments are hypotonic

environment, which is when there is more water going into the cell and can cause it to burst. An

isotonic environment is also known as an ideal environment because there is the same amount of

water and solutes going in and out of the cell. Lastly, a hypertonic environment is when more

water is going out of the cell, which can cause the cell to shrivel. Osmosis is very important for

real world purposes for many reasons. For example, ingesting too much salt water would

eventually make the human body experience dehydration and eventually die. “The body can

handle a little bit, but if you were to consume nothing but salt water for a period of a few days, as

in the case of being stranded on the proverbial desert island, the osmotic pressure would begin

drawing water from other parts of your body” (Francis 3). Another example is fishes living in

marine life salt water. An animal who lives in a salt water environment has a much higher solute

concentration in its cells than land animals do. For marine life animals, salt water is an isotonic

solution, so it is the same osmotic pressure as in their own cells. (Francis 4) Dialysis tubing is a

semi-permeable membrane, and it is very useful in the laboratory because it is the process which
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 3

involves the removal of very small molecular weight solutes from a solution, along with

equilibrating the solution in a new buffer. There are many different purposes for this lab like, “to

test the permeability of dialysis tubing to glucose, starch, and iodine” (Ramlingam 1), but the

main three purposes for part I of the lab was to learn how to do dialysis tubing, to see how the

dialysis tubing would react without being placed in the beaker, and to understand that the

different percentage of solutions really does change the weight of the bags. The three purposes

for part II of the lab was to see that iodine changes the color of the water in the beaker, to see

how the iodine was able to move across the membrane, and to show that the solution itself

changed colors. The set up for this lab was how bag 1 was filled with water and then placed in

the beaker full of water, then bag 2 is filled with 20% of starch solution and then placed in the

beaker with water, then bag 3 is filled with 40% starch solution and then placed in the beaker of

water, then bag 4 is filled with 60% starch solution and then placed in the beaker of water, then

bag 5 is filled with water and then placed in the beaker filled with 60% glucose, and lastly, bag 6

is filled with 80% starch solution and then placed in the beaker filled with 60% glucose. The

dependent variable for part I would be the mass in the bags after taken out of each beaker and the

independent variable would be the type of osmotic environment the bags were placed in. The

dependent variable for part II would be the color change of the water and the independent

variable would be the placement of the starch inside of the bag. For part I, the constants would be

how much of the starch solution or water you fill the beakers up with, which was ½, the control

group would be the water in the water solution, and the experimental group would be the water

in 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 60% solution bag in the 80% solution. For part II, the constants

would be the amounts of iodine in the solution and when the students washed off the baggies

before placing them in the solution. The control group would be the tubing filled with half starch
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 4

solution, and the experimental group would be the beaker that is filled with water. For part I, my

hypothesis was if the stimulated cell filled with water in water has a lower weight at 3 minutes,

then the 80% starch solution in 60% glucose will be around the same weight at 3 minutes. My

hypothesis for part II is if you add twenty drops of iodine to the water, then the iodine will move

through the membrane.

Materials:

Part I:

 String

 Six stimulated cells

 Glass weighing dish

 Six beakers

 Starch solution

 Water

 Glucose solution

Part II:

 Beaker

 Iodine

 Water

 Starch solution

 Stimulated cell

 String

Procedures:

Part I: Effect of Concentration on Rate of Diffusion

 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 5

1. Take out 6 pieces of dialysis tubing that was soaking in the water.

2. At that point crease one of the closures from the dialysis tubing over around 1 cm from

the end and after that, bind a knot around the tube with a piece of thread. After the thread

is fastened, loop a few more pieces of thread to ensure that the bag won't spill.

3. Then fill each dialysis tubing with the certain guidelines below:

a. 5 milliliters full of water- Bag 1

b. 5 milliliters of 20% starch solution- Bag 2

c. 5 milliliters of 40% starch solution- Bag 3

d. 5 milliliters of 60% starch solution- Bag 4

e. 5 milliliters of 80% starch solution- Bag 5

f. 5 milliliters of water- Bag 6

4. Once all of the bags are filled up and folded properly, loop the open ends of each bag

with thread. Place each bag on a numbered paper towel to abstain from blending the bags.

5. Take out 6 beakers and fill 4 of them with 200 milliliters of water and the last two with

200 milliliters of 60% glucose solution and 80% glucose solution.

6. To gather the mass of each bag individually, utilize a glass weighing dish.

7. Log the starting masses of the stimulated cells on a piece of paper.

8. Then, place your bag filled with water in the beaker full of water, then the bag filled with

20% of starch solution in the beaker with water, then bag filled with 40% starch solution

in beaker of water, then bag filled with 60% starch solution in beaker of water, then bag

filled with water in beaker filled with 60% glucose, and lastly, the bag filled with 80%

starch solution in beaker filled with 60% glucose.

9. Keep the cells inside of the beakers for 3 minutes and then take them out and weigh them.
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 6

10. Remember to keep the bags in the right order, so you do not mix them up.

11. Place bags inside of the beakers for 6 minutes, then log the masses, and then 9 minutes,

then log the masses.

12. Lastly, record your results in the table given.

Part II: A Selectively Permeable Membrane

1. Fold one end of the dialysis tubing over and loop a knot over the crease. Loop a few extra

knots over the end and then cut the remainder thread 2 cm from the ends, so the tubing

stays put together.

2. Now fill the dialysis tubing up with half a spoonful of starch solution. Crease the other

end and loop a few pieces of thread, so it stays put.

3. After you finish looping the thread, make sure to rinse the bag with water and tap it dry

with paper towels.

4. Then fill the beaker up halfway with water and add 20 drops of iodine to it.

5. Now place the stimulated cell in the beaker.

6. Once 15 minutes has gone by, take out the cell and pat it dry.

7. Fill out the results in the table given.

Results:

As you can see in part I on the table and graph, before they put the stimulated cells in the

beakers, water in water was 0 grams, 20% in water was 0 grams, 40% in water was 0 grams,

60% in water was 0 grams, water in 60% was 0 grams, and 80% in 60% was 0 grams. After 3

minutes, water in water was 208 grams, 20% in water was 317 grams, 40% in water was 408

grams, 60 % in water was 567 grams, water in 60% was -150 grams, and 80% in 60% was 241

grams. After 6 minutes, water in water was 291 grams, 20% in water was 534 grams, 40% in
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 7

water was 8 grams, 60% in water was 1009 grams, water in 60% was -533 grams, and 80% in

60% was 316 grams. After 9 minutes, water in water was 249 grams, 20% in water was 701

grams, 40% in water was 1108 grams, 60% in water was 1409 grams, water in 60% was -783

grams, and 80% in 60% was 399 grams. The graph is a more visual representation of the results,

so everyone can see how high certain stimulated cells weight were compared to others.

Table 1: Concentration Gradient in Water

Time Water in 20% in 40% in 60% in Water in 80% in

Water Water Water Water 60% 60%

0 min. 0 grams 0 grams 0 grams 0 grams 0 grams 0 grams

3 min. 208 grams 317 grams 408 grams 567 grams -150 grams 241 grams

6 min. 291 grams 534 grams 8 grams 1009 grams -533 grams 316 grams

9 min. 249 grams 701 grams 1108 grams 1409 grams -783 grams 399 grams

The results shown in the table above were the honors biology class average. They got the
numbers by averaging their results together. As you can see, the averages were all around the
same numbers and either increased or decreased and were measured in grams.
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 8

Mass vs. Time

2000

1500

1000
Mass- milligrams (y)

500

0
0 3 6 9

-500

-1000
Time- Minutes (x)

Figure 1: Concentration Gradient in Water

Key/ Legend: Dark Blue- Water in Water, Red- 20% in Water, Grey- 40% in Water, Yellow-

60% in Water, Light Blue- Water in 60%, Green- 80% in 60%.

On this part I graph, it shows how the different stimulated cells in different beakers were
affected. Everyone can see how much higher 60% in water was compared to water in water. It
also shows that 80% in 60% and water in 60% were very similar. Lastly, it shows how 40% in
water went up, then down, and then up again.
The results for part II were much different. For part II instead of comparing different
weights with different solutions, honors biology tested iodine’s affect on stimulated cell and
water in the beaker. Iodine changed the water in the beaker to a yellow color and it changed the
stimulated cell’s solution blue.

Discussion:

Certain bags gained and lost weight during part I of the lab due to the different types of

osmotic environments the stimulated cells were in. Most of the cells that were placed in water
 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 9

had a various range of weights compared to the stimulated cells placed in glucose. Those cells

were around the same in weight. The rate of osmosis decreased as the stimulated cell becomes

closer to equilibrium because there was no net diffusion to hold an expansion in volume. A

higher concentration gradient expands the rate of osmosis in light of the fact that the particles

will move rapidly, and there will be a bigger amount of particles. The 80/60 stimulated cell did

not gain as much weight from 0-3 minutes as the 20/0 stimulated cell did because the

concentration gradient in 80/60 made more particles, which is why it was harder to move through

the membrane and this caused it to gain less mass than the 20/0. The inside of the stimulated cell

turned blue in part II of the lab because the iodine was able to not only move across the

membrane, but through it. Dialysis tubing is not permeable to starch, but it is permeable to

iodine, water, and glucose because it passed through the membrane. Four sources of error within

this lab were the time intervals, the tying of the bags could have been not tight enough, using an

average verse an exact measurement found, and not drying off the bags in between the different

testing, which could have changed the weight. A change to the lab would be to maybe put water

in the beaker for part II and put glucose solution inside of the stimulated cell instead of starch

solution to see if the iodine would affect the glucose.

 Diffusion Through Cell Membranes 10

References:

Bowen, Richard. (n.d.). Osmosis, Tonicity, and Hydrostatic Pressure.

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

Department of Biochemistry. (1997, February 12). Diffusion, Osmosis, and Cell

Membranes. http://www.cbv.ns.ca/sarty/bio/biosites/osmosis.html

Francis, F. J. (2018). Osmosis- Real- Life applications.

http://www.scienceclarified.com/everyday/Real-Life-Chemistry-Vol-2/Osmosis-Real-life-

applications.html

Ramlingam, S. T. (2017). Selective Permeability of Dialysis Tubing Lab: Explained.

https://schoolworkhelper.net/selective-permeability-of-dialysis-tubing-lab-explained/