Osmosis and Diffusion Lab Report 1

Osmosis and Diffusion Lab Report

Colin Cantella
Honors Biology Period 9
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School
April 29, 2018
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Introduction

The movement of molecules or ions from an area of higher to lower concentration is

called passive transport. (Helmenstine, 2018). Some forms of passive transport include:

Osmosis, simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and filtration. (Helmenstine, 2018). Cell

membranes are selectively permeable, which means that it regulates what substances can pass

through, and how much of each substance can pass through or get out. (Khan, 2015). The

different osmotic environments are hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic. Hypotonic is when cells

are in an environment where there is more water going into the cell than outside, which could

cause the cells to explode. Hypertonic is the opposite of hypotonic, hypertonic is when cells are

in an environment where there is more water going out of the cell instead of going in, which can

cause the cells to shrivel up. Isotonic is where everything is balance the same amount of water

going in than going out of the cell. Osmosis itself is diffusion of water molecules through a

semipermeable membrane from a low concentration to a high concentration. It is very important

for people to know about the effects of osmosis in our body, if you drink too much your blood

cells will explode leading to death and if you don’t drink enough your blood cells will shrivel up

leading to death. One purpose for the lab is to understand osmosis and its effects on our bodies.

Another purpose for the lab is to show that did does not take very long for our cells to expand

and eventually explode or shrivel up like a raisin. One last purpose for the lab is to show that

some substances can pass freely while other substances couldn’t. In the first beaker the “cell”

was placed in an isotonic environment. In the second beaker the “cell” was placed in a

hypotonic environment. In the third beaker the “cell” was placed once again in a hypotonic

environment. In the fourth beaker the “cell” was placed once again in a hypotonic environment.

In the fifth beaker the “cell” was placed in a hypertonic environment. In the sixth beaker the
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“cell” was placed in a hypotonic environment. The dependent variable in part 1 was the mass of

the dialysis tube. The independent variable in part 1 was the osmotic environments. The

osmotic environment is dependent on the mass of the dialysis tube. The dependent variable in

part 2 was the amount of starch in the dialysis tube. The independent variable in part 2 was the

color inside of the dialysis tube was placed in an osmotic environment. Because the color

change depends on the amount of starch in the dialysis tube. The constants for part 1 was the

number of intervals for the dialysis tubes in the beakers, also using dialysis tubes, and the

amount of liquid in the beakers and in the dialysis tubes. The control group was “Tap Water in

Tap Water” which ended up being in an isotonic environment. The experimental group were the

other beakers, they all were either in a hypotonic or in a hypertonic environment, when the

control group was in an isotonic environment. The constants for part 2 were the amount of liquid

in the dialysis tubes, the amount of liquid in the beakers, the amount of time immersed in the

liquid, and using dialysis tubes. There was no control group in part 2. The experimental group

in part 2 was the dialysis tube full of starch in the Iodine. My hypothesis for part 1 is if we place

a simulated cell in a hypotonic environment, the simulated cell should pop or explode because it

is in a hypotonic environment. My hypothesis for part 2 is if we put iodine in a beaker with a

simulated starch cell, the “cell” will come out completely black like the iodine is staining the

inside of the “cell”.

Materials

o 20% Glucose Solution

o 40% Glucose Solution

o 60% Glucose Solution

o 80% Glucose Solution

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o Tap Water Solution

o Dialysis Tubing

o Iodine

o Corn Starch

o 6 Beakers

o Scale

o String

o Timer

o Paper Towels

o Pipettes

o Graduated Cylinders

Procedures

Part 1:

1) Obtain 5 pieces of dialysis tubing that has been previously soaked in water

2) Fold one of the tubing over approximately 1 cm from the end and tie a tight knot around

the tube with string

3) After the knot is secure, tie several more knots to guarantee that the bag will not leak

4) Fill one tube with 5mL of tap water

5) Fill one tube with 5mL of 20% starch solution

6) Fill one tube with 5mL of 40% starch solution

7) Fill one tube with 5mL of 60% starch solution

8) Fill one tube with 5mL of tap water

9) After each bag is filled, close, fold, and tie the open end of each bag
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10) Do not tie the bag so it is stretched tight

11) Place each bag on a numbered paper towel to avoid mixing the bags

12) Using a glass weighing dish, get the mass of each bag separately

13) Record the beginning masses on a piece of scratch paper

14) Fill 4/5 of the beakers with 200mL of tap water and one with 200mL 60% glucose

solution

15) Put the bag 5mL of tap water in one of the beakers of tap water

16) Put the bag 5mL of 20% starch solution in one of the beakers of tap water

17) Put the bag 5mL of 40% starch solution in one of the beakers of tap water

18) Put the bag 5mL of 60% starch solution in one of the beakers of tap water

19) Put the bag 5ml of tap water in the beaker of 60% glucose solution

20) At the end of each 3, 6, and 9 minutes period, remove the bags from their beakers, dry

off the excess water, and carefully weigh each bag to the nearest gram

21) Make sure to place it in a glass weighing dish first

22) Record the new masses on a piece of scratch paper

23) When you are completed, return the bags to their appropriate beakers at the same time

24) Be sure to mix up the bags

25) You may record your numbers for the bag of tap water in one of the beakers of tap water

26) The weights of the rest of the bags will be determined from the averages calculated in

class

27) After the averages are calculated, this value can be entered a table
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Part 2:

1) Fill one beaker with 200mL of tap water

2) Add 10 drops of Iodine into that breaker

3) Tie off one of the sides of one dialysis tube

4) Fill the other side half with starch

5) Tie off the other side of the dialysis tube

6) Put the dialysis tube into the beaker with 10 drops Iodine

7) After a while, the colors will change to a blue or dark blue color

The procedure’s information is from the Diffusion Through Cell Membrane packet

Results

Part 1:

After completing the 3 intervals of 3 minutes the data was recorded and put into a graph

and table. The first dialysis tube was full of tap water and as placed in a beaker full of tap water.

That first dialysis tube increased from 0mg to 208mg after the first 3-minute interval, the same

dialysis tube then increased from 208mg to 291mg after the second 3-minute interval. Then

decreased from 291mg to 249mg after the third and final 3-minute interval. The second dialysis

tube was filled with 20% glucose solution and was put into a beaker of tap water. Its mass

increased from 0mg to 317mg after the first 3-minute interval, the same dialysis tube then

increased from 317mg to 534mg after the second 3-minute interval. Then its mass increased

from 534mg to 701mg after the third and final 3-minute interval. The third dialysis tube was full

of 40% glucose solution and was put into a beaker of tap water. Its mass increased from 0mg to

408mg after the first 3-minute interval, the same dialysis tube increased from 408mg to 800mg
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after the second 3-minute interval. Then its mass increased from 800mg to 1108mg after the

third and final 3-minute interval. The fourth dialysis tube was filled with 60% glucose solution

and was put into a beaker of tap water. Its mass increased from 0mg to 567mg after the first 3-

minute interval, the same dialysis tube increased from 567mg to 1009mg after the second 3-

minute interval. Then its mass increased from 1009mg to 1409mg after the third and final 3-

minute interval. The fifth dialysis tube was full of tap water and was put into a beaker of 60%

glucose solution. Its mass decreased from 0mg to -150mg after the first 3-minute interval, the

same dialysis tube decreased from -150mg to -533mg after the second 3-minute interval. Then

its mass decreased from -533mg to -783mg after the third and final 3-minute interval. The last

dialysis tube was full of 80% glucose solution and was put into a beaker full of 60% glucose

solution. Its mass increased from 0mg to 241mg after the first 3-minute interval, the same

dialysis tube increased from 241mg to 316mg after the second 3-minute interval. Then its mass

increased from 316mg to 399mg after the third and final 3-minute interval. Table 1 shows how

much mass was lost or gained in each one of the dialysis tubes throughout the lab. The graph

shows much the mass changed for each 3-minute interval for each dialysis tube.

Table 1: The Changes in Mass for each Dialysis Tube

Time Tap 20% in 40% in 60% in Tap 80% in

Water in Tap Tap Tap Water in 60%

Tap Water Water Water 60%

Water

0 minutes 0mg 0mg 0mg 0mg 0mg 0mg

3 minutes 208mg 317mg 408mg 567mg -150mg 241mg

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6 minutes 291mg 534mg 800mg 1009mg -533mg 316mg

9 minutes 249mg 701mg 1108mg 1409mg -783mg 399mg

Table 1 shows how much mass was lost or gained in each one of the dialysis tubes
throughout the lab. This table displays the averages of the dialysis tubes and shows how the
mass of the dialysis tubes changed over time.
Graph 1: Mass Versus Time

Tap Water in Tap Water

Mass Versus Time
2000 20% in Tap Water
40% in Tap Water
1500 60% in Tap Water
Mass in Milligrams

1000 Tap Water in 60%

80% in 60%
500

0
0 3 6 9
-500

-1000
Time in Minutes

Graph 1 shows the masses in milligrams over the spam of 3, 6, and 9 minutes. Each
series is one of the six dialysis tubes in an osmosis environment. The graph displays how the
mass increased or decreased as time went on. All the numbers came from the class averages.
Part 2:

After being in the Iodine for an extended amount of time the starch in the dialysis tube

started to change to a blue color. This shows that the dialysis tubing and the starch is permeable

to the Iodine.

Discussion

The “Tap Water in Tap Water” cell increased and decreased, and this proves that it is in

an isotonic environment because it is balanced and stay relatively the same mass compared to the

other simulated cells. The “Tap Water in 60%” cell deceased the whole time because it is in a
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hypertonic environment, where more water leaves the cell rather than entering the cell, so it

resulted in decreased mass. All of the other simulated cells increased the whole time because

they are in a hypotonic environment, meaning more water is entered the body rather than leave

the body. As the cell gets closer and closer to equilibrium the rate of osmosis decreases, because

less water is needed when getting closer to equilibrium. The rate of osmosis increases when the

concentration gradient is lower. While the rate of osmosis decreases when the concentration

gradient is higher. The “80% in 60%” cell didn’t gain as much weight as the “20% in Tap

Water” because there is more tap water on the outside entering into the cell than in the “80% in

60%”. The inside of the simulated cell turned blue because starch was permeable to the iodine.

Dialysis tubing is permeable to the iodine and that is why it was able to pass through it. One

source of error could be us, human make errors we are not perfect. Another source of error could

be trying to finish it quickly and end up getting and writing down the wrong information.

Another source of error could be putting to much liquid or iodine in a beaker and screw up the

results. One last source of error could be that it is hard to pull out all four bags at the same time.

If we did this lab again, is to give us two days to do it instead of one so we could take our time in

getting the right information and more time to see the effects at the very end.

References

Diffusion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Kinetic/diffus.html

Diffusion and passive transport. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/membranes-and-transport/passive-

transport/a/diffusion-and-passive-transport

Helmenstine, A. M. (n.d.). Compare and Contrast Active and Passive Transport. Retrieved from

https://www.thoughtco.com/active-and-passive-transport-603886
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