MEASURING THE RATE OF OSMOSIS USING DESHELLED CHICKEN EGGS

(Effect of Solute Concentration Upon Rate/Degree of Osmosis in Chicken Eggs).

Introduction

If a cell is to perform its functions, it must maintain a steady state in the midst of an ever-
changing environment. This constancy is maintained by the regulation of movement of materials
into and out of the shell. To achieve this control, cells are bounded by a delicate membrane that
differentiates between different substances, slowing down the movement of some while allowing
others to pass through. Since not all substances penetrate the membrane equally well, the
membrane is said to be differentially permeable.

The external and internal environment of cells is an aqueous solution of dissolved inorganic and
organic molecules. Movement of these molecules, both in the solution and through the cell
membrane, involves a physical process called diffusion a spontaneous process by which
molecules move from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which their
concentration is lower.

A special kind of diffusion is the phenomenon of osmosis. Simply defined in biological systems,
osmosis is the diffusion of water through a differentially permeable membrane from a region in
which it is highly concentrated to a region in which its concentration is lower. More often,
however, osmosis is defined in terms of the effects that solutes have on the thermodynamic
activity of water (i.e., the activity of the water molecule due to the kinetic energy of motion).
For example, the addition of a solute to water tends to decrease the activity of the water. In other
words, as more water molecules are displaced by solute molecules, the activity of the water goes
down. Thus, in thermodynamic terms, water diffuses across membranes from a region in which
the thermodynamic activity of water is high (low solute concentration) to one in which the
thermodynamic activity is low (high solute concentration).

We use the terms hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic in referring to the relative concentrations of
solute particles of different solutions. Below are the definitions of the three terms according to
Curtis, 1983.

Hypotonic (Gk. hypo, under + tonos, tension): Of two solutions of different

concentration, the solution that contains the lower concentration of solute
particles; water moves across a semi-permeable membrane into a
hypertonic solution.

Hypertonic (Gk. hyper, above + tonos, tension): Of two solutions of different

concentration, the solution that contains the higher concentration of solute
particles; water moves across a semi-permeable membrane into a
hypertonic solution.

Isotonic (Gk. isos, equal + tonos, tension): Having the same concentration of
solutes as another solution. If two isotonic solutions are separated by a
 semi-permeable membrane, there will be no net flow of water across the
membrane.

It should be noted that the number of solute particles is the thing that affects the relative activity
of the water, not the kind of particles.

Heat increases the motion of molecules. Therefore, we expect an increase in temperature to

speed up the rate of osmosis, regardless of which direction the solvent is moving. This is
diagrammatically shown below.

A. Water enters cell B. Water leaves cell

0.1M solute 0.9M solute

particles particles
(i.e., sucrose) (i.e., sucrose)

0.5M solute 0.5M solute

particles particles
(i.e., proteins) (i.e., proteins)

H2O H2O

(H2O activity (H2O activity
lower than higher than
outside) outside)

(H2O activity (H2O activity

higher than lower than
inside cell) inside cell)

HYPOTONIC HYPERTONIC

THE EXPERIMENT

Part I: Effect of Solute Concentration

Each group of students will be given 6 chicken eggs from which the shell has been dissolved
away. The remaining membrane (the shell membrane) is differentially permeable. We will
assume that each egg has approximately the same concentration of solute in this membrane, and
based on the rate of osmosis, will attempt to determine what this concentration must be.

Weight each egg separately to the nearest 0.1g and record the weights in Table 1 at time 0.
Place eggs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 into separate beakers containing solutions of distilled water, 10%
sucrose, 20% sucrose, 30% sucrose, 40% sucrose and unknown sucrose solution respectively. At
15 minute intervals, that is after 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75 minutes, remove the eggs from the
beakers; carefully wipe off all excess water; and again weigh each egg separately. Record the
weight in Table 1. Plot the changes in weight of each of the eggs against time on a piece of
graph paper.

Which solutions would you say were hypotonic to that of the eggs? Which of them were
hypertonic? Isotonic? What would you expect to happen if an egg was put into a sixth beaker
containing a 50% sucrose solution?

Table I: Weight Change of Eggs (g) vs Time (minutes)

Time (Min.) 0% suc 10% suc 20% suc 30% suc 40% suc Unknown
0
15
30
45
60
75

Table II: Weight Change of Eggs (g) vs Time (minutes)

Time (Min.) 0% suc 10% suc 20% suc 30% suc 40% suc Unknown
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15
30
45
60
75

Table III: Total Weight Change of Eggs (g) vs Sucrose Concentration (%)

Sucrose Conc. 0%Suc 10%Suc 20%Suc 30%Suc 40%Suc

Tot. Wt.
Change

In order to fill out table 3, extract data on the 75 th minute row of table 2 and place them on table
3.

Lab Report for Movement of Materials Across Cell Membranes

To assist you in your understanding of this laboratory, you are asked to prepare the following
graphs using Microsoft excel and answer the questions at the end of each section.

1. Prepare a graph in which you plot the weight change of the six (6) eggs (use data from
table 2), which have been placed in solutions of varying solute (sucrose) concentrations,
as a function of time. You will have six (6) lines on this graph (one for each egg). This
graph indicates the weight change of eggs (g) vs time (minutes)

(+)

Weight Change
of Eggs (grams) 0

(-)

0 15 30 45 60 75

a. What conclusion can you draw from the data in this graph?

b. Which solutions were hypotonic? Hypertonic? Isotonic?

2. Prepare a graph in which you plot total weight change of the eggs (g) placed in varying
solute (sucrose) solutions against sucrose concentration (%). You, in effect, will be
constructing a type of standard curve. Use the data in table 3 to construct this graph.

(+)
Total Weight
Change (grams) 0

(-)

0 10 20 30 40

Sucrose Concentration (%)

Using this graph, you should be able to:

1. Determine the isotonic point of the contents of a chicken egg. (Hint: where your
curve crosses the 0 line, read down to the concentration axis and record the value you
obtain.)

2. Determine the concentration of the unknown solution. (Hint: locate on the total
weight change axis, the value representing the total weight change of the egg placed
in the unknown solution. Read across to your standard curve and then down to the
concentration axis and record the value you obtain.)

Expected tables and graphs