Date:
Title: Osmosis
Problem Statement: Plan and design an experiment to investigate the effect of different
concentration of solutions on osmosis in plants.
Hypothesis: The more concentrated the solution is, potato sticks will experience a greater
decrease in length due to osmosis
Aim: To investigate the effect of salt solutions on the length of potato strips through osmosis
Variables:
Independent: Concentration of solution
Dependent: Length of potato strips
Controlled: Temperature of water, length of potato strips
Apparatus: Potato strips, beaker, water, salt, measuring cylinder, thermometer, ruler, clear
plastic
Method:
1. 50 ml was measured using a measuring cylinder.
2. 50 ml of water was poured into each beaker. The initial temperature of the water was
measured for each beaker.
3. Each beaker was labelled A, B, C and D.
4. One beaker was left with pure water and 1g, 2, and 4g of salt was poured into beakers
B, C, and D.
5. Each beaker was stirred, and the temperature was tested.
6. Eight strips of potato strips were obtained of length 5cm.
7. Two strips of potato strips were placed in each beaker and was covered with plastic
for a duration of 24 hours.
8. The plastic was removed as time had elapsed and was dried with paper towel.
9. After subjection to different concentrations of salt, the length of each potato strip was
measured. The change in texture was noted.
10. The change in length of each potato strip was determined and recorded in a table.
Results
TABLE SHOWING POTATO STRIPS IN DIFFERENT SALT CONCENTRATION
Concentration Initial Length Final Average Difference in Noted changed
of salt of Potato/cm Length/cm length/cm length (+ or – in texture
solution/ cm)
grams
Pure water (0 5 5.1 5.3 + 0.1 Turgid and
salt) 5 5.4 + 0.4 firm
1 5 5.0 5.0 0 No changes
5 5.0 0
2 5 4.9 4.8 - 0.1 Partially
5 4.7 -0.3 Plasmolyzed
4 5 4.1 4.1 -0.9 Flaccid
5 4.0 -10 Plasmolyzed
Bendable
Discussion
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a region of high concentration of solute to
a region of low concentration of solute through a semipermeable membrane, until equilibrium
is met. In the experiment the semipermeable membrane is the potato surface. The potato
strips immersed in the pure water became turgid and firm because pure water is a hypotonic
solution. This means the water outside the potato cell is at a higher concentration than the
water inside the potato strip. So, the water inside the potato strip. The potato strip immersed
in higher concentrated solution were plasmolyzed, and bendable because the higher
concentrated solution is a hypertonic solution. This means that the salt concentration is higher
on the outside of the potato strip than on the inside. Therefore, the water will flow out of the
potato strip. The increase in size of potato strip is due to the movement of water molecules
into the potato and decrease in length is due to the movement of water out of the potato. The
water occupies more space so instead of the potato sticks getting longer the water makes it
wider and decreasing size is because the water is moving out of the potato causing it to
shrink. If more salt was used in the solutions or the water would move out of the potato
which would cause a potato each solution to shrink. At least two potato sticks should be used
to give a repeat of each solution, this is to ensure accuracy. The cell membrane of a potato
cell acts as the partially permeable membrane. It has gaps that are small enough for water
molecules to move through, but too large for salt particles to fit through. Carrot sticks could
be used instead of potato sticks to demonstrate experiment.
Precaution
1. Sharp knife and peeler should be taken with caution.
2. avoid spills of substances, any spills should be clean at the same time to avoid
accidents.
3. Take caution when transporting glassware or beakers to prevent them from breaking.
Conclusion
It was determined by testing potato sticks in pure water and saltwater solution with different
concentrations, that when the salt solution concentration was increased, the potato sticks
experience a large decrease in length due to the occurrence of osmosis.
Reflection
Osmosis is a fundamental concept of great importance to understanding natural biological,
physical, and chemical processes. Water occupies more than 2/3 of our cell’s volume and is
related to the properties of solutions of energy of Brownian motion. Osmosis occurs when a
solvent and a solution are separated by a selectively permeable membrane resulting in
spontaneous movement of the solvent through the membrane.
Osmosis is important to all living things. One important characteristic of all living things is
that they maintain homeostasis. This means that living organisms maintain a stable internal
environment which allows them to carry on their daily life processes. Osmosis also plays an
important role in the human gastrointestinal system and the kidneys. Osmosis helps to get
nutrients out of food and waste products out of your blood. With the information obtained
from this topic osmosis is very important to living organisms. When you eat food or drink
water, it travels from your mouth, down your oesophagus and into your stomach. In the
stomach, the food is broken into tiny pieces that are mixed with stomach liquids. This
mush of food and stomach liquids is called chyme. The chyme travels into the small
intestine. This is where osmosis takes place.
The chyme has a higher concentration than the epithelial cells that line your intestines.
So, in order to reach homeostasis, water moves into these cells through their
semipermeable membranes, taking small nutrients along with it. Near the epithelial cells
are capillaries. The water and nutrients move through the cells of the capillaries and into
the bloodstream.
