Osmosis with Dialysis 1

Osmosis with Dialysis Tubing

Dominic Felice
Honors Biology Period 4
North Catholic High School
April 23, 2019
 Osmosis with Dialysis 2

Introduction
Passive transport is one of the two major types of diffusion. It is the natural movement of

particles from a high concentration to a low concentration. As it is the natural movement, there is

no Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) needed for it to occur. (Biggs, et al., 2012) Osmosis is one

type of passive transport. Osmosis is the diffusion of water particles through a selectively

permeable membrane. Osmosis is different from other types of diffusion in that it focuses

entirely on water molecules. (Biggs, et al., 2012) A membrane is a thin sheet of solid material

that is wrapped around a cell and protects it. If a membrane allows some kinds of molecules to

go through it while obstructing others, then it is considered a selectively permeable membrane.

There are several different types of osmotic environments. (Biggs, et al., 2012) The first is a

hypertonic environment. This occurs when there is a higher concentration of pure water inside of

the cell than outside. This will cause the water to move outside of the cell till the water

concentrations are equal. (Biggs, et al., 2012) The next type of osmotic environment is a

hypotonic environment. This is when there is a higher concentration of pure water outside of the

cell, and pure water moves into the cell till the concentrations of water are equal. The final

osmotic environment is isotonic. This is when there is an equal concentration of water inside and

outside of the cell. (Biggs, et al., 2012) Osmosis is very important in our everyday lives. It occurs

every second inside of your bodies. For example, if you drink too much water, there will be a

very high concentration of pure water outside of your cells. This will cause osmosis to occur, and

your cells will start to take in all this extra water. However, if your cells take in too much water,

they will begin to start to rupture and die. Dialysis tubing is very similar to a cell membrane and

is used to simulate one in the laboratory when dealing with osmosis. There are three different

purposes for this lab. The first is to test to see if starch can pass through the cell membrane when
 Osmosis with Dialysis 3

dissolved in water. The second is to see if glucose can pass through the cell membrane when

dissolved in water. And the final is to see if iodine can pass through the cell membrane when

dissolved in water. (Diffusion Through Cell Membranes, 2019) For part one, we will have six

different beaker set ups. In the beaker one we will have one bag of dialysis tubing with 5ml of

tap water placed into the beaker filled with 200ml of tap water representing an isotonic

environment. In beaker two there will be dialysis tubing with 5ml of 20% starch solution placed

into a 200ml tap water beaker. Representing a hypotonic environment. In beaker three there will

be dialysis tubing filled with 5ml of 40% starch solution placed into a beaker of 200ml tap water,

representing a hypotonic environment. (Diffusion Through Cell Membranes, 2019) In beaker

four there will be dialysis tubing with 5ml of 60% starch solution placed into a beaker of 200ml

tap water, representing a hypotonic environment. In beaker five, there will be dialysis tubing

with 5ml of tap water placed into a beaker of 200ml of 60% glucose solution, representing a

hypertonic environment. For beaker six there will be dialysis tubing filled with 5ml of 80%

starch solution placed into a beaker of 200ml of 60% glucose solution, representing a hypotonic

environment. For part two we will have one set up. Dialysis tubing filled with water and starch

will be placed into a 200ml beaker with 8 drops of iodine in it. (Diffusion Through Cell

Membranes, 2019) Our dependent variables in part one will be the weight of the dialysis tubing.

For part two it will be the color inside of the beaker and dialysis tubing. For part one, our

independent variables are the percent of solution inside and outside the dialysis tube. For part

two it is the starch inside the dialysis tubing and the iodine outside of it. For part one, our

constant variables are the dialysis tubing, the scale, and the string. Our control group is beaker

one, and the rest of the beakers are our experimental groups. For part two, our constants are the

dialysis tubing, scale, and string. As there is just one beaker there is no control or experimental
 Osmosis with Dialysis 4

group. My hypothesis for part one is that if the dialysis tubing is not is an isotonic environment,

then osmosis will occur until it reaches equilibrium. My hypothesis for part two is that if there is

starch inside dialysis tubing and glucose outside of it, then the glucose will move into the

dialysis tubing until it reaches equilibrium.

Materials
 Dialysis Tubing

 215ml Water

 String

 Graduated Cylinders

 5 ml 20% Starch Solution

 5 ml 40% Starch Solution

 5ml 60% Starch Solution

 5ml 80% Starch Solution

 400 ml 60% Glucose Solution

 7 400ml Beakers

 7 20ml Graduated Cylinders

 1 Scale

 1 teaspoon starch

 1 teaspoon measuring cup

Procedures
Part One
 Osmosis with Dialysis 5

1. Obtain 6 pieces of soaked dialysis tubing.

2. Properly fold one end of dialysis tubing, then tie with string, making sure it is secure, so

no water comes out. Do this with all 6 dialysis tubes.

3. In bag one, pour 5ml tap water. In bag two pour 5ml 20% starch solution. In bag three

pour 5ml 40% starch solution. In bag four pour 5ml 60% starch solution. In bag five pour

5ml tap water. In bag six pour 80% starch solution. Use graduated cylinders to measure

out the correct amount of liquid.

4. Fold over untied ends of bags, and tie with string, making sure it is secure, so nothing

leaks out.

5. Place each bag on a numbered piece of paper as to not lose track which is which.

6. Individually place each bag on the scale, record the weight of each in grams.

7. Grab 6 400ml beakers.

8. Fill beakers 1, 2, 3, and 4 with 200ml of tap water. Fill beakers 5 and 6 with 200ml of

60% glucose solution each.

9. Place the bags in the beakers with corresponding numbers.

10. After 5 minutes, remove the bags from the beakers and record their weight again in grams

after lightly drying them off. Do steps 9 and 10 a total of 4 times.

(Diffusion Through Cell Membranes, 2019)

Part Two

1. Obtain 1 piece of soaked dialysis tubing.

2. Properly fold one end of dialysis tubing, then tie with string, making sure it is secure, so

no water comes out.

 Osmosis with Dialysis 6

3. Pour 5ml of water into the bag. Use graduated cylinder for measurement if needed.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of starch into the water.

5. Fold over untied end of bag, and tie with string, making sure it is secure, so nothing leaks

out.

6. Obtain a beaker and fill with 200ml of water. Then add 8 drops of iodine into the water.

7. Wash off your bag to make sure any additional starch is off, dry off gently.

8. Record the color of the water in the beaker and the inside of the baggie.

9. Place the baggie into the beaker and wait a day.

10. Remove the baggie from the beaker.

11. Record the color inside of the beaker or inside of the baggie.

(Diffusion Through Cell Membranes, 2019)

Results
Part 1

For baggie one, the mass increased the first 5 minutes of and then leveled off. It stopped

gaining around 5.4 grams. For baggie two, for the first fifteen minutes the baggie slowly

increased in mass and then leveled off at the end. It leveled off at around 5.6 grams. For baggie

three, it continues to rise in mass for the entire time, but in the last five minutes it began to level

off but was still gaining mass. The last recorded mass was around 6.3 grams. Baggie four did the

same but did not begin to level off towards the end and kept gaining mass. The last recorded

mass was around 6 grams. For baggie five, it increased in mass slightly towards the start, and

then rapidly lost mass and did not level off, last recorded mass was around 4.5 grams. For baggie
 Osmosis with Dialysis 7

six, it increased the first five minutes, but then leveled off. It began to increase in mass again for

the last five minutes. The last recorded mass was around 5.7 grams.

Table 1: Change in Mass(grams) over Time(mins)

Time Bag 1 Bag 2 Bag 3 Bag 4 Bag 5 Bag 6

0 5 5 5 5 5 5

5 5.33 5.2 5.59 5.33 5.22 5.55

10 5.419 5.337 5.89 5.64 4.98 5.555

15 5.439 5.519 6.107 5.869 4.79 5.585

20 5.459 5.559 6.227 6.009 4.49 5.771

This table gets its data from all the class results averaged together, with them all having
an initial mass of 5 grams. It displays how much each baggie weighs, in grams, after being in it’s
liquid for an amount of time, in minutes.
 Osmosis with Dialysis 8

Mass (g) vs. Time (minutes)

6.5

5.5
mass (g)

4.5

4
0 5 10 15 20
Time (minutes)

Bag 1 Bag 2 Bag 3 Bag 4 Bag 5 Bag 6

Figure 1: Mass (g) vs. Time (minutes)

Figure 1 is the data in Table 1 put onto a graph. It shows the mass of the baggies(grams) over
time(minutes).
For part two, in the beginning the color of the bag was cloudy white, and the color of the solution

in the beaker was yellow. After one day the color of the bag was purple, and the color of the

solution in the beaker was still cloudy white.

Discussion
Certain bags gained mass because of the type of environment they were in, for example,

bags 2, 3, 4, and 6 were all placed into a hypotonic environment, so they all gained mass

accordingly until the environment was isotonic or had reached equilibrium. Bag 5 was in a

hypertonic environment, and lost mass until it would reach equilibrium. Bag 1 was in an isotonic

environment from the start, and its mass stayed relatively the same throughout the entire

experiment. Therefore, the expected results did match the observed results. The rate of osmosis

goes down as a simulated cell gets closer to equilibrium, and this is seen in the tables and data.
 Osmosis with Dialysis 9

At the start of the experiment is when most bags had their greatest change, and the rate of change

or rate of osmosis began to slow as time went on. This happens because as the cell gets closer to

equilibrium, the concentrations of pure water get closer to each other, so there is less osmotic

pressure. The greater the osmotic pressure, the greater the rate of osmosis. The lower the osmotic

pressure, the lower the rate of osmosis. This was seen in our results.

In part two, the inside of the simulated cell turned blue because the dialysis tubing is

selectively permeable to iodine. When starch and iodine mix, it becomes the blueish color seen

inside of the dialysis tubing for part two. This means that iodine can naturally move through its

membrane. However, as the solution in the beaker did not change color, this means that the

dialysis tubing is not permeable to starch.

There were several sources of error in this lab. To start off, for part one our data for the

starting masses was incorrect. Instead of taking the average starting mass of all the experiments it

was set to a default of 5 grams. Also, when tying the dialysis tubing, there was a chance it was

not tied enough. This would explain the weird fluctuations of mass seen in the data, as liquid

could leak in and out of the bag and change the mass of it. Another error could have occurred in

part two when placing the baggie inside the beaker. Sometimes some of the solution inside the

beaker would turn blue/purple. This could be since the baggie was not washed off properly and

had some starch residue on the outside of it. One final error that could have occurred is when

measuring the mass of the baggies they may not have been dried off properly and may have had

more mass from the additional moisture around the baggie. One thing that should be changed

about this lab is having the starting masses average off all the classes starting masses instead of a

default of 5 grams.
 Osmosis with Dialysis 10

Conclusion
Overall, this lab concludes that if water is not in an isotonic environment, and the

membrane is selectively permeable to water, osmosis will occur until eventually the cell reaches

equilibrium or an isotonic environment. Additionally, this lab concludes that membranes are not

permeable to starch but are permeable to iodine. The higher the difference in concentration of

pure water between a membrane the higher the rate of osmosis will be, but the longer it may take

to reach equilibrium.
 Osmosis with Dialysis 11

References
Biggs, A., Hagins, W. C., Holliday, W. G., Kapicka, C. L., Lundgren, L., MacKenzie, A. H., . . . Zike, D. (2012).
Biology. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Education.

Diffusion Through Cell Membranes. (2019).

Science | AAAS. (2019, April 10). Retrieved from ScienceMAG: https://www.sciencemag.org/