Name:

Brandon Atkinson

Title:
Water potential

Date:
Mar 4, 2024

Aim:
To determine the water potential of a tissue

Apparatus and materials:

Potato, Distilled water, 0.2 M sucrose, 0.4 M, 0.6 M sucrose, 0.8 M sucrose, 1 M sucrose, potato
borer, paper towel, balance, maker, Petri dish, masking tape, beaker, measure cylinder, scalpel

Procedure:
1. 40 cm3 of each solution was measured and poured into separate petri dishes.
2. A potato borer was used to remove 8 potato tubers of the same thickness and cut to 3 cm
length using a scalpel
3. The potatoes were covered with a piece of paper towel until the balance was available.
4. The mass of each potato tube was measured using the electronic balance and a note was
made of the firmness
5. Two pieces of potato were placed into each solution.
6. The potato was left in the solution for 1 hour.
7. At the end of the hour, the potatoes were removed, pat dry and the final mass taken as
well as the final firmness.
8. In a suitable table the initial mass, final mass, change in mass, percentage change in mass
and the average percentage the change for two strips in each solution were recorded.
9. In a second table the changes in the firmness of the tissue placed in each solution were
recorded.
10. A graph of water potential vs. molarity was plotted from the table given below.

TABLE 1 SHOWING THE WATER POTENTIAL OF SUCROSE SOLUTIONS OF

VARYING CONCENTRATIONS
 Concentration of sucrose (moldm-3) Water potential (MPa)

0 0

0.10 -0.260

0.20 -0.540

0.30 -0.860

0.40 -1.120

0.50 -1.450

0.60 -1.800

0.70 -2.180

0.80 -2.580

0.90 -3.000

1.00 -3.500

11. A graph of average percentage change in mass vs. molarity was plotted.
12. The water potential of the potato tissue was determined by identifying the molarity
where the line cuts the x-axis. This value was read on the molarity vs. Water potential
graph to give the water potential of the potato.

Results:
TABLE SHOWING THE OBSERVATIONS MADE BEFORE AND AFTER BEING PLACED
IN EACH SOLUTION

Sucrose solution Observations

(M)
Before 1 hour After 1 hour

#1 #2 #1 #2

0.0 Firm Firm Stiff Stiff

0.2 Firm Firm Firm (softer than 0.0) Firm (softer than 0.0)

0.4 Firm Firm Slightly Flaccid Slightly Flaccid

0.6 Firm Firm Moderately Flaccid Moderately Flaccid

0.8 Firm Firm Flaccid/soft Flaccid/soft

1.0 Firm Firm Flaccid/Softest Flaccid/Softest

TABLE SHOWING THE MASS VALUES BEFORE AND AFTER EACH POTATO WAS
PLACED IN THE SOLUTION.

Sucrose Initial mass Final Average mass (g) Average % change in Average
(M) (g) Mass(g) change in mass (%) % change
Initial Final mass (g) (%)

0.0 1.33 1.26 1.33 1.27 1.295 1.300 0.005 0 0.793 0.386
0.2 1.04 1.18 1.01 1.04 1.110 1.025 -0.085 -2.884 -11.64 -7.657
0.4 1.16 1.28 1.04 1.15 1.220 1.095 -0.128 -10.34 -10.56 -10.49
0.6 1.04 1.21 1.02 1.03 1.125 1.025 -0.1 -1.923 -14.76 -8.889
0.8 1.32 1.22 1.07 1.09 1.270 1.080 -0.19 -18.93 -10.56 -14.96
1.0 1.16 1.26 0.86 1.10 1.210 0.980 -0.23 -25.86 -12.68 -19.00

Discussion:

Osmosis is the net movement of molecules of a solvent across a semi permeable membrane from
a region of high-water potential to region of high-water potential to a region of low water
potential. Water potential is a measure of the potential energy of water molecules. In other it is
the tendency of water molecules to move out of a solution. The unit given is kPa (Ψ) and this
value is determined by the solutes dissolved in the solution. Pure water contains no solutes. This
gives pure water a water potential of 0kPa - this is the highest water potential value a solution
can have. The water potential becomes more negative/ lower as more solutes are dissolved in the
solution. Solutions at different solute-solvent concentrations have different names. A hypotonic
solution is one in which the solvent is at a higher concentration than the solute. A hypertonic
solution is one in which the concentration of the solute is higher than that of the solvent and an
isotonic solution is one in which the concentration of both solute and solvent are similar. If a cell
is placed in a hypotonic solution the water will travel through its membrane to the cell causing it
to become turgid because of the higher water potential of the solution and in a hypertonic
solution water travels from the cell to the solution due to the solution’s low water potential. An
isotonic solution has little to no change. Looking at the observation table the potato in the 0.0 M
sucrose solution went from firm to stiff/turgid meaning that it absorbed water meaning that the
solution was hypotonic. For the potato in the 0.2 M solution, it stayed almost the same (firm), for
the potatoes in solutions 0.4 – 1.0 (M) got more flaccid as the concentration increased which
indicated that they were in hypertonic solutions. The average change in mass or each potato in
sucrose solution decreases as the sucrose concentration increases, potatoes in the 0.0 M solution
increased because of the lower water potential in the potato strip when compared to that of the
pure water causing the sell to absorb more water. Solutions 0.2 – 1.0 M had decreases in mass
due to the lower water potential in the solution it caused the water to travel from the cells to the
solution causing each strip to become flaccid. The graph of water potential vs molarity shows
indirect proportionality which coincides with the statement “The water potential becomes more
negative/ lower as more solutes are dissolved in the solution.” The graph of average % change in
mass can be used to find the water potential of the tissue by finding the concentration where the
line of besfit cuts the x axis and reading that concentration on the water potential vs molarity
graph. This value was found to be 0.02 M and that molarity corresponds to an estimated water
potential of 0.19 MPa or 190 kPa.

Sources of error:

1. Potatoes were exposed to the air for too long which would cause oxidation and changes
in the mass
2. Uneven boring of the potatoes
Precautions:

1. Multiple potatoes were used to obtain an average for the different values
 2. Similar thickness strips of potatoes were used to help with

Limitations:

1. Potatoes did not stay upright throughout the entire 1-hour duration

Improvements:

1. The entire potato strip should be submerged so that there was a larger surface area for the
water molecules to travel to and from the cells.

Conclusion:

Based on the results and the given limitations and sources of errors it can be concluded that the
water potential of the plant cell tissue was found to be 0.19 MPa/ 190 kPa.