Republic of the Philippines

North Eastern Mindanao State University

Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Cantilan, Surigao del Sur 8317
Telefax No. 086-212-5132
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Name: Mark Niṅo O. Nautan Date: November

23, 2022

Introduction to Osmosis1
Title

Introduction
1. Food can spoil when bacteria or molds grow in it. For thousands of years,
people have preserved foods by adding salt. How do you think that adding salt
can keep a food from spoiling?

2. If a person drinks a very large amount of water in a short time without

consuming salt, this can disrupt the functioning of nerve cells in the brain,
which can cause confusion, seizures, coma, and even death. How do you think
that drinking lots of water quickly causes these problems?

The following sections will help you to understand these phenomena.

What is happening to these eggs?

An unfertilized chicken egg contains a large cell surrounded by egg white, a
shell membrane, and an egg shell. You will investigate how the size of an egg
changes when the eggshell is removed and the egg is placed in different
liquids.

Day 1
 Your group will be given two eggs. To begin, record the weight or
circumference of each egg in the day 1 row in the table. (Measure the
circumference around the widest part, not lengthwise.)

Caution: Because these are raw eggs, they may carry salmonella, so you
should use gloves when handling the eggs.

Egg 1 Egg 2
Day Weight (grams) (or Weight (grams) (or circumference
circumference (cm)) (cm))
1 60 g 55 g ( with shell )
(with shell)

1
 95 g ( 24hrs
2 90 g (24hrs with with vinegar )
vinegar )
90 g ( 24 hrs with
3 90 g (after a day in corn syrup)
water )

 Put each egg in a container labeled Egg 1 or Egg 2. Pour in enough vinegar
to cover the egg. Cover the container. Do you see bubbles forming around
the egg? These are bubbles of CO2 which result from the chemical reaction
between the acetic acid in the vinegar and the calcium carbonate in the
eggshell. This reaction will dissolve most of the eggshell by day 2.

Day 2
 Observe your eggs. Notice that most of the shell has been dissolved by the
acetic acid in the vinegar. The shell membrane around the egg is fairly
strong. However, the egg without its shell is fragile, so you will need to
handle your eggs very gently and carefully!

 Rinse and dry each egg and measure the weight or circumference of each
egg. Record your results for day 2 in the above table.
3a. Did the eggs become heavier/larger ̷̷_ or lighter/smaller ___?
yes
3b. What do you think happened to cause the change in the eggs’ weight/size?
- It because of the higher concentration of distilled water was plump and gained
mass as compared to the egg

 Empty the vinegar from the container for egg 1 and rinse the container. Put
egg 1 back in the container and add water to cover the egg.

 Empty the vinegar from the container for egg 2 and rinse the container. Put
egg 2 back in the container and add corn syrup to cover the egg. As you
pour the corn syrup, notice that it is viscous (thick, sticky).

4. What do you think causes the corn syrup to be so viscous?

- it because due to the high concentration of sugars contained in corn.

Day 3
5. Compare and contrast the appearance of the egg that has been in water vs.
the egg that has been in corn syrup.
- the sample egg1 has been in water was plump and firm, while the egg that
was in the corn syrup is shriveled and flabby.

6. You may be able to see a layer of water on top of the corn syrup. Where do
you think this water came from?
- I think the water on the top of the corn syrup is cause by the densities of the
corn that form layers, with the least dense liquid resting on the top.
2
 Rinse the corn syrup off of egg 2. Dry each egg, and measure and record the
weight and/or circumference for day 3 in the table on page 1.

7. What do you think happened to cause the change in weight/size of the egg
that was in corn syrup?
-water molecules moved across the membrane from the egg into corn syrup
thereby leading to decrease in weight and size of the egg.

8. For the egg that was in water, where do you think the additional
weight/volume came from?
- when the egg is immersed in distilled water, there is an increase in the size
and the weight of the egg. This is a clear indication that through osmosis water
molecules moved from highly concentrated area into the egg, which was less
concentrated in terms of water molecules.

9a. Recall that each egg is surrounded by a shell membrane. Based on your
observations, which of the following do you think can cross this membrane?
a. both water and the proteins in the egg white
b. water, but not the proteins in the egg white
c. the proteins in the egg white, but not water
d. neither water nor the proteins in the egg white

9b. What evidence supports your conclusion?

10. The shell membrane that surrounds the egg is a selectively permeable
membrane. Explain why “selectively permeable” is a good way to describe
this membrane.
- because the cell membrane is called selectively permeable as it only allows
specific molecules to pass like water and gaseous molecules can pass through.

Each diagram shows a very magnified view of a tiny patch of the selectively
permeable shell membrane between two solutions. Inside the egg is water with
dissolved proteins, ions, etc. Outside the egg is water or vinegar (water with
dissolved acetic acid) or corn syrup (water with dissolved glucose molecules
and polymers of glucose).

3
 Molecules are constantly moving in random directions. As a result, water
molecules cross the selectively permeable shell membrane in both directions. If
more water molecules cross the membrane in one direction, this is called a net
flow of water. Most solute particles cannot cross the selectively permeable shell
membrane. Thus, the changes in weight/volume of each egg were mainly due
to the net flow of water into or out of the egg.

11a. In each of the above diagrams, draw an arrow to show the direction of the
net flow of water across the selectively permeable membrane. (Hint: Review
your answers to questions 3, 7 and 8.)

11b. Your results show that, when the selectively permeable shell membrane
separates two solutions, more water molecules cross

from the solution with to the solution with

a _lower_ concentration of solute a higher_ concentration of solute

particles particles
(higher/lower) → (higher/lower)

and a _higher__ concentration of and a higher_ concentration of

water water.
(higher/lower) (higher/lower)

The movement of water across the selectively permeable shell membrane is

similar to the movement of water across the selectively permeable cell
membrane that surrounds each tiny cell in your body. Inside the cell
membrane is cytosol, which is water with dissolved proteins, ions, etc.
(Cytoplasm is the cytosol, together with the organelles and cytoskeleton.)
Outside the cell membrane is water with dissolved ions, etc.

12a. Suppose that a cell is surrounded by a solution that

has the same concentration of solute particles as the
4
cytosol inside the cell. Which of the following do you
think would best describe the net flow of water across
the cell membrane?
a. There would be a net flow of water into the cell.
b. There would be a net flow of water out of the cell.
c. There would be no net flow of water into or out of
the cell.

12b. Explain your reasoning.

- Most solute particles cannot cross the selectively permeable shell membrane.
Thus, the changes in weight/volume of each egg were mainly due to the net
flow of water into or out of the egg.

Osmosis – Effects on Animal and Plant Cells

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane.

Osmosis affects cells differently, depending on whether the surrounding
solution is:
 hypertonic = has a higher concentration of solute particles than the
cytosol
 hypotonic = has a lower concentration of solute particles than the
cytosol
 isotonic = has the same concentration of solute particles as the cytosol

Figures A, B and C show the effects of osmosis on animal and plant cells that
were put in three different types of surrounding fluid.

13a. Which of the animal cells looks like the egg in corn syrup? ____
-B
13b. The fluid surrounding this cell was
a. hypertonic b. hypotonic c. isotonic

13c. How do you know?

5
- the water on the top of the corn syrup is cause by the densities of the corn
that form layers, with the least dense liquid resting on the top.

14a. The fluid surrounding the cells in figure C is

a. hypertonic b. hypotonic c. isotonic

14b. In figure C, why does the animal cell burst, but the plant cell does not?

15. The cells in an animal are surrounded by a layer of water with dissolved
substances. For animal cells to function normally, there should be equal
amounts of water moving into and out of the cell, as shown in figure B. Which
type of surrounding fluid would result in equal amounts of water moving into
and out of an animal cell?
a. hypertonic b. hypotonic c. isotonic

Applying Your Understanding of Osmosis

16. A food can spoil when bacteria and molds grow in it. Explain how salting a
food can prevent it from spoiling.
There are several ways in which salt inhibit microbial growth. The most notable
is simple osmosis, or dehydration. Salt attempt to reach equilibrium with the
salt content of the food product with which is in contact.

If a person drinks a very large amount of water in a short time without

consuming any salt, this can result in abnormal functioning of nerve cells in the
brain. This can cause confusion, seizures, coma, or even death.
17a. When a person drinks too much water too quickly, the fluid surrounding
the person’s cells changes from:
a. hypotonic to hypertonic
b. isotonic to hypertonic
c. isotonic to hypotonic
17b. Explain your reasoning.
- when a person drink too much of water it would be from the lower
concentration of fluid in hypotonic to the higher concentration of fluid in
hypertonic, sugar and salt than blood.

17c. How could this change in the fluid surrounding brain cells cause
confusion, seizures and coma?
- when sodium accumulate in the blood, water is transferred out of cell and into
the blood to dilute it. This fluid shift and a build-up of fluid in the brain can
cause seizure, coma or even death.

Challenge Question
18a. Suppose that you are stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean.
6
You are very thirsty and you don’t have anything to drink except ocean water.
The concentration of salt in ocean water is about four times as high as the
concentration of salt in your blood and other body fluids. Should you drink
some ocean water?
yes ___ no _/__ need more information to make a good
decision ___
18b. Explain your reasoning.
No, because if I were the one who stranded at the middle of the ocean, I should
not drink sea water, because it can cause a heavy damange to our body
specially to the cells affected to dehydration or bloating our stomach from the
salt water that may cause vomiting, so there’s another way to find water to
drink except sea water. Rain water is the other choice to drink water even it is
acidic but it can drinkable than sea water.

Reference:
Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Dept Biology, Univ Pennsylvania, © 2022.