Observing Osmosis
INTRODUCTION
Osmosis is the “diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane” (Raven et al. G-16). In this experiment, dialysis tubing was used to mimic the selectively permeable membrane to show what osmosis does when placed in different solutes. We filled dialysis tubes fill with different percentages of solute and placed them in beakers full of a different solute. Through this experiment, I saw what happens when the solution becomes hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic. My hypothesis was that bag A would shrink because the water would leave the bag to go to the higher concentration. Bag B would stay the same because it would be isotonic. Bag C and D would swell because water would rush into the cell where …show more content…
The weight of the tube increased from 12.3 grams to 13.0 grams in 15 minutes; however, in the next 30 minutes, it decreased from 13.0 grams to 12.5 grams. The bag could have been weighed inaccurately before the weigh in by having water on the tube, or the scale itself, or the scale itself could have been misread. Since the bag was full of 10% sucrose and put in a beaker filled with 1% sucrose; the water should have rushed into the tube where the higher concentration was making the tube swell. The results of bag D supported my hypothesis that the water would rush into the tube where the higher concentration was; therefore, the tube would be hypotonic, and the tube would swell. This experiment showed the important of osmosis by showing how the tube that represents the cells in side us react when placed in different situations. This is very important to know in the medical field, when deciding how to keep our cells healthy and alive. Like when a person is being treated for dehydration, the doctors know what percentage of saline to put in us that it will not swell and eventually burst our cells. By watching osmosis make a cell hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic, we have a deeper understanding on why this subject is so important for our overall health and much
INTRODUCTION
Osmosis is the “diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane” (Raven et al. G-16). In this experiment, dialysis tubing was used to mimic the selectively permeable membrane to show what osmosis does when placed in different solutes. We filled dialysis tubes fill with different percentages of solute and placed them in beakers full of a different solute. Through this experiment, I saw what happens when the solution becomes hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic. My hypothesis was that bag A would shrink because the water would leave the bag to go to the higher concentration. Bag B would stay the same because it would be isotonic. Bag C and D would swell because water would rush into the cell where …show more content…
The weight of the tube increased from 12.3 grams to 13.0 grams in 15 minutes; however, in the next 30 minutes, it decreased from 13.0 grams to 12.5 grams. The bag could have been weighed inaccurately before the weigh in by having water on the tube, or the scale itself, or the scale itself could have been misread. Since the bag was full of 10% sucrose and put in a beaker filled with 1% sucrose; the water should have rushed into the tube where the higher concentration was making the tube swell. The results of bag D supported my hypothesis that the water would rush into the tube where the higher concentration was; therefore, the tube would be hypotonic, and the tube would swell. This experiment showed the important of osmosis by showing how the tube that represents the cells in side us react when placed in different situations. This is very important to know in the medical field, when deciding how to keep our cells healthy and alive. Like when a person is being treated for dehydration, the doctors know what percentage of saline to put in us that it will not swell and eventually burst our cells. By watching osmosis make a cell hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic, we have a deeper understanding on why this subject is so important for our overall health and much