OSMOSIS
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules from a region of higher water potential
(dilute solution) to a region of lower water potential (concentrated solution), through a
partially permeable membrane.
A partially permeable membrane allows small molecules such as water to pass through but
not large solutes.
Water potential is the potential (likelihood) of water molecules to diffuse out of or into a
solution by osmosis.
A dilute solution (containing a lot of water molecules) has a high water potential.
A concentrated solution (containing fewer water molecules) has a low water potential.
Water as a solvent
A solution is made up of two parts, the solute and the solvent. The solute dissolves in the
solvent.
If you dissolve sugar in water, you make a sugar solution. The sugar is the solute and the
water is the solvent.
Water is sometimes called the universal solvent.
About 75% of cytoplasm is water and it is the main component of transport fluids like blood,
and xylem sap and phloem sap in plants.
Water is important because all transport and most chemical reactions in cells take place in
water.
Practical discussion
Cut two pieces of dialysis tubing,
each 12 cm long.
Tie one end of each with cotton.
Fill one model cell with a dilute sugar
solution (cell A)
Fill the other model cell with water
(cell B).
Tie the other end of both model cells
and weigh them on a balance.
Put cell A into a beaker of water and
put cell B into a beaker containing a
concentrated solution of sugar.
After 30 minutes take out the model
cells and weigh them.
1
Observation
• Model cell A increases in mass because water has diffused into the 'cell' by osmosis.
• Model cell B decreases in mass because water has diffused out of the 'cell' by
osmosis.
Osmometer
You can see the effects of osmosis if you
set up the apparatus in Figure 3.2.3.
• Fill the partially permeable
membrane with a very concentrated
solution of sugar.
• Tie it to a capillary tube and stand it
in water.
Observation
• Very quickly you will see the liquid
moving up the tube.
• You can measure how fast it is
moving using a ruler and a
stopwatch.
Note
Use your ideas about osmosis to explain
why the liquid rises in the tube.
Osmosis in plant cells
Cut nine cores from a potato so that
they are exactly the same length.
Record this length.
Feel the cores to see how firm and
'bendy' they are.
Set up the following test tubes:
A- distilled water
B - dilute sugar solution
C - concentrated sugar solution.
Place three cores of potato into each
test tube and leave them for 60
minutes.
2
Observations
Remove the cores and measure their lengths. Calculate the average length of the cores in each
test tube. Compared to the start, cores will be:
A- longer and firmer
B- about the same length and firmness
C- shorter and softer and 'bendier'.
Explanations
Cells that contain the maximum volume of water provide support for the stems and leaves of
plants. The pressure of water within each cell presses against the cell wall, keeping the cell
firm. The cells keep the stems of many plants upright. However, when these cells lose water,
they are no longer firm and plants wilt.
Osmosis and plant cells
If a plant cell is placed in a solution with
a higher water potential than the solution
inside the plant cell, water will move into
the cell by osmosis.
This will make the cell become plump
and swollen.
A plump and swollen cell is called a
turgid cell.
When the plant cell is full of water, the
pressure of the water presses outwards on
the cell wall.
This helps to support the cell.
The pressure of the water against the
inelastic (rigid) cell wall is called turgor
pressure
Osmosis and plant cells
3
If a plant cell is placed in
a solution with a lower
water potential than the
solution inside the plant
cell, water will move out
of the cell by osmosis.
This will make the cell
become limp and wilted.
A limp and wilted cell is
called a flaccid cell.
If the plant’s really short
of water, the cytoplasm
inside its cells starts to
shrink and the
membrane pulls away
from the cell wall. This
process is called
plasmolysis.
Importance of water potential and osmosis
• When water passes into a root hair cell, it moves from an area of high water
potential (in the soil water), into an area of lower water potential (in the cell sap
of the root hair).
• Osmosis supports herbaceous stems by maintaining turgor in their cells.
• Osmosis allows water to move in and out of amoeba.
Amoeba is a single-celled organism that lives in fresh water. Amoeba has an organelle called
a contractile vacuole. Water gradually accumulates inside the vacuole and when it is full, the
water is released to the outside.
