Cellular Death: Tonicity on Potato Cells
Introduction
The purpose of this experiment was to test the effects of tonicity on potato cells. During this experiment slices of a potato were placed into beakers containing salt solutions with different concentrations. How will the percentage of salt concentration in solution affect a plant cells water content? This experiment will determine which salt solution concentrate will cause the potato cells to absorb water or lose water.
Tonicity in plant cells is important. A plant cell exposed to a hypertonic solution would become shriveled due to water leaving the cell. People have been taking advantage of tonicity for many years and may not even realize it. Preserving food is an example of this, adding salt to meat draws water out of the cells, spoiling bacteria and fungi (Simon …show more content…
For this study we are reviewing what happens with plant cells. This membrane allows water and food to move in and out of the cell while providing a barrier to waste. The process by which this occurs is called diffusion and requires the cell to expend no energy, making this a passive transport. This experiment took place in the South-Central College Biology lab. The class divided into groups; each group obtained a salt solution of a different percentage and performed the experiment. Results from the class were collected and shared. Potato samples were collected from the same bag. Cut to approximately 5cm long, and 1cm thick. After weighing and recording the initial weight the potato was placed into a salt solution. After 30 minutes in the solution the potato was removed from the solution, weighed and recorded.
If the weight of the potato decreases, then the solution the potato was soaking was hypertonic. Given a 5% concentration of solution it was hypothesized this solution would be hypertonic and water would move out of the cells, leading the cells to lose volume and weight.
Data &
Introduction
The purpose of this experiment was to test the effects of tonicity on potato cells. During this experiment slices of a potato were placed into beakers containing salt solutions with different concentrations. How will the percentage of salt concentration in solution affect a plant cells water content? This experiment will determine which salt solution concentrate will cause the potato cells to absorb water or lose water.
Tonicity in plant cells is important. A plant cell exposed to a hypertonic solution would become shriveled due to water leaving the cell. People have been taking advantage of tonicity for many years and may not even realize it. Preserving food is an example of this, adding salt to meat draws water out of the cells, spoiling bacteria and fungi (Simon …show more content…
For this study we are reviewing what happens with plant cells. This membrane allows water and food to move in and out of the cell while providing a barrier to waste. The process by which this occurs is called diffusion and requires the cell to expend no energy, making this a passive transport. This experiment took place in the South-Central College Biology lab. The class divided into groups; each group obtained a salt solution of a different percentage and performed the experiment. Results from the class were collected and shared. Potato samples were collected from the same bag. Cut to approximately 5cm long, and 1cm thick. After weighing and recording the initial weight the potato was placed into a salt solution. After 30 minutes in the solution the potato was removed from the solution, weighed and recorded.
If the weight of the potato decreases, then the solution the potato was soaking was hypertonic. Given a 5% concentration of solution it was hypothesized this solution would be hypertonic and water would move out of the cells, leading the cells to lose volume and weight.
Data &