Osmosis

&
Diffusio
n Lab
Taylor Downs
AP Biology
Period Three
 Diffusion and Osmosis
Taylor Downs

Abstract
By performing the diffusion and osmosis lab, we used dialysis tubing to model diffusion
across a cell membrane and hoped to investigate the influence of solute concentration on
osmosis as well as the concept of water potential in relation to water movement into or out of
plant cells. We used dialysis tubing as a semi permeable membrane to conduct an experiment
to see the influence of salute concentration on osmosis as well as to model the cell membrane,
while we put potato shavings in a sucrose solution to investigate water potential in relation to
water movement with plant cells. We found that sucrose and starch would not diffuse across
the dialysis tubing, but that the iodine added to the cup diffused into the dialysis tubing from
high concentration in the cup to low concentrating in the tubing. It is important that glucose
doesn’t diffuse because it needs to stay in the blood for the body to remain healthy, while the
starch makes sense for it is too large. The iodine molecules’ diffusing represents important
molecules that need to diffuse passively across the cell membrane to power the cell to keep it
alive. Without this passive transport, cells would die. Because sucrose would not diffuse across
the semi-permeable membrane, we observed that water diffused into the dialysis bags that
contained the sucrose solution to lower the concentration. We also observed how easily water
would leave plant cells, compared to knowing that it would only enter plant cells to a certain
point. Osmosis is important in maintaining homeostasis in living organisms. This lab allowed us
to see which molecules require passive transport and which require active, for example the
iodine was passive and the glucose would have needed active transport to be moved because it
does not move down its concentration gradient. Without passive transport, active transport,
and osmosis cells would die because of a lack of the nutrients the provided by the transports.

Introduction
The purpose of the osmosis and diffusion lab was to allow us to get a better
understanding of the ways diffusion and osmosis work. We believed that in the diffusion
experiment, the glucose and starch would not diffuse because the starch is too large and that is
not how glucose behaves, while the water and iodine would because the iodine would move
from high concentration to low because the molecules are small enough and water would
diffuse to balance out the concentrations of glucose and starch. In the osmosis experiment, we
believed that water would diffuse down its concentration gradient so it would leave the cups
and diffuse into the bags, and the bag with the most sucrose would gain the most, the one
below it less and so on to balance it out more. And In the water potential experiment, we
believed that because the sugar solutions would not be able to diffuse into the potato cells
(because they’re too large and not reactive to passive transport) that the water would diffuse
from the potatoes to the solution to lower the concentration of sugar in the solution. Like the
osmosis experiment, we believed that more water would diffuse in more dense sucrose
solutions. The iodine itself was important to use because it would change the color of the
solutions it enters depending on the solvents, so we were able to easily distinguish what
diffused and what didn’t by the color of the iodine. By weighing the dialysis bags and potatoes
from the second and third experiments before we immersed them in their respective solutions
and after the experiment we were able to tell how much water weight had left the potatoes.

Materials and Methods

For the dialysis bag diffusion experiment, we needed: dialysis tubing, a plastic cup,
glucose/starch solution, distilled water, iodine-potassium iodide (IKI) solution, a dropping pipet,
glucose test strips, and a funnel. We poured 165mL of distilled water into a plastic cup and
added 4mL of the IKI solution and mixed. We recorded the initial solution color and dipped a
glucose test strip into the solution and recorded the initial glucose test results. We then dipped
a fresh glucose test strip into the glucose/starch solution and recorded the results. We got a
piece of dialysis tubing that had been soaked in water and knotted one end to close it. Using a
funnel, we poured 15mL of the glucose/starch solution into the dialysis bag and smoothed out
the top of the back to expel the air. We then tied off the open portion of the bag, leaving
enough space at the top to allow for expansion and recorded the initial color of the
glucose/starch solution. Finally, we immersed the bag in the solution in the cup, making sure
that the contents of the glucose/starch solution were covered by the solution in the cup. While
we waited for thirty minutes, we made our predictions of what would diffuse and what
wouldn’t. After the thirty minutes, we removed the bag from the cup, blotted it on a paper
towel, and cut a slit in the bag so that we could insert a glucose test strip. We then used the
glucose test strips in both solutions and recorded the results as well as the final floor of both
the glucose/starch solution and the IKI solution.
For the osmosis experiment, we needed: dialysis tubing, three plastic cups, distilled
water, a funnel, 0.6 M, 0.8 M and 1.0 M sucrose solutions, paper towels, a balance, and a
calculator. We poured 165mL of distilled water into a plastic cup and labeled the cup with .6 M
sucrose solution, then continued for the other two cups and sucrose solutions. We then
obtained three pieces of dialysis tubing that was soaked in water and tied one end on each to
close them. We used a small funnel to pour 25mL of the .6 M solution into a dialysis bag,
smoothed out the top to expel air and tied the top leaving enough room for expansion. We did
this with the other two sucrose solutions, then dried the bags, measured the mass of each and
recorded the results. Then we placed all three dialysis bags in their respective cups at the same
time and made sure the sucrose solutions were completely covered by water. After thirty
minutes, we removed the bags, dried them, weighed them, and recorded the data. We then
figured out the percent change in mass. We received the class average percent changes and
recorded them.
For the third water potential experiment, we needed: two plastic cups, .8 M and 1.0 M
sucrose solutions, potato cores, plastic wrap, paper towels, a balance and a calculator. We
labeled the cups with .8 M and 1.0 M. We got three pieces of potato for each cup and weighed
them immediately, recording the results. We then placed three pieces of potato in each cup
and poured the assigned sucrose solutions in each. We covered the cup with plastic wrap and
left the cups overnight. We recorded the temperature of the room and removed the potato
secretions from the solutions. We blotted them and weighed each group immediately,
recording the results.

Results
Experiment One: Dialysis Bag as Membrane
 Solution Color Glucose Test Results
Location Solution Initial Final Initial Final
Dialysis Bag Glucose/Starch Clear Dark Blue + +
Cup IKI Amber Amber - -
The cup remaining amber shows that no glucose or starch diffused out of the dialysis
bag because it is because of them that the iodine turns dark blue, which, because of the change
of color in the bag, shows that the iodine was able to diffuse.

Experiment Two: Effects of Solute on Diffusion Mass

Contents in Initial Mass (mg) Final Mass (mg) Change in Mass
Dialysis Bag (mg)
0.6 M Sucrose 26.8 32.1 5.3
0.8 M Sucrose 26.1 32.5 6.4
1.0 M Sucrose 26.5 35.6 9.1

Effects of Solute on Diffusion Percent Changes Comparison

Contents in Dialysis Bag % Change in Mass Class % Change Average
0.0 M Sucrose 0.510%
0.2 M Sucrose 6.60%
0.4 M Sucrose 11.89%
0.6 M Sucrose 20% 19.86%
0.8 M Sucrose 25% 24.56%
1.0 M Sucrose 34% 34.36%

The positive change in data shows that the bags gained mass during the experiment.

Effects of Solute on Diffusion Percent Changes Comparison

 0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2 % Change in Mass

Class % Change Average
0.15

0.1

0.05

0
1 2 3

Experiment 3: Water Potential in Plants

Contents in Cup Temp Initial Mass Final Mass Change in Mass
.8 M Sucrose 22C 4.36 2.56 1.8
1.0 M Sucrose 22C 4.57 2.77 1.8

Water Potential in Plants Percent Change Comparison

Contents in Cup % Change in Mass Class Average % Change
0.0 M Sucrose 13.89%
0.2 M Sucrose -1.23%
0.4 M Sucrose -25.93%
0.6 M Sucrose -34.89%
0.8 M Sucrose -41.3% -41.51%
1.0 M Sucrose -39.4% -32.35%
The negative percentages show that the potatoes lost mass during the experiment.
Water Potential in Plants Percent Change Comparison
 0.2

0.1

0
1 2

-0.1
% Change in Mass
Class Average % Change
-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

-0.5

Water Potential
Solute potential at equilibrium -785.29
Water potential of solution at equilibrium
Water potential of potato cells at equilibrium

Discussion
The data collected in the lab supported our hypotheses for each experiment. In the
membrane first experiment, the iodine diffused, the glucose and starch did not because of their
structure, and we assume water did but we could not tell from the experiment process itself. A
good way to alter the experiment to be able to see if water diffuses may be to weigh the
dialysis bags or the cups beforehand and afterwards to observe the change in mass. Also, I
wonder if the iodine molecules were small and hydrophobic or non-polar, because while the
dialysis bags weren’t quite a plasma membrane those are the types of molecules that easily
pass through one. In the second, osmosis experiment the bags gained mass, meaning that
water did diffuse through the dialysis bag into the solution because there was a higher
concentration of solutes there, meaning a lower concentration of water and water always
diffuses down its concentration gradient. As expected, the bags also gained more water the
denser the concentration was, for example the 0.2 M sucrose gained 6.60% mass while the 1.0
M sucrose gained 34.36% mass. And finally in the third, water potential experiment, the
potatoes lost mass meaning that they lost water, meaning that the water did in fact diffuse out
of the plant cells and into the sucrose solutions because they had a less concentration of water
and higher concentration of solutes than the potato cells. These too behaved as we believed
they would, the potato in the 0.2 M sucrose solution losing 1.23% of its mass while the 1.0 M
sucrose potato lost 32.35 of its mass. Throughout the experiments our group didn’t come
across any problems, other than with the second experiment we accidentally placed the 0.6 M
sucrose bag into the cup before the others, but quickly corrected the issue. The common
saying, “Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink” refers to being at sea surrounded by
water but not able to drink it because it’s salt. I used to wonder why we couldn’t survive on salt
water and didn’t fully understand why not until we learned about osmosis, especially through
this lab. The problem with drinking salt water is the concentration of salt as a solute entering
the body. Because of osmosis and water’s ability to diffuse through cells easily without restraint
to stopping, the water in the cells will diffuse to try to balance out the concentration of salt in
the body. The problem occurs when there is too much salt and all of the water leaves the cells
entirely to try to create equilibrium with its surroundings. This causes the cell shrink and
because the cells have no water the condition will eventually kill the drinker of dehydration
because while they are drinking water, the water is not enough to create equilibrium with the
salt solute. While osmosis is required for our survival to hydrate cells and keep them alive to
keep us alive, in situations when our bodies absorb too much nutrients it can put us in deathly
situations.

Works Cited

"Diffusion." The Biology Corner. Web. 02 Dec. 2010.

<http://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/diffusion.html>.