Lab 7: Urinary System

Procedure:
A. Kidney Filtration
1. A small rubber band been placed around the bottom of the dialysis tubing to close it off.
The rubber band been wrap as many times as possible. Test that the dialysis tubing will
not leak out of the bottom by placing a few drops of water into the tubing. If it leaks out
the bottom, the rubber band has not been fastened tight enough. If it does not leak, pour
the water out of the tubing into the sink. Set the tubing aside.
2. 200 ml of water been filled in 250 ml beaker. Set this aside for now.
3. 3 ml of Congo Red is measured using 10 ml graduated cylinder and being poured into
the empty 250 ml beaker.
4. 3 ml of Yellow Food Colouring is measured using 10 ml graduated cylinder and being
poured into the same 250 ml beaker as the Congo Red.
5. 5 ml of water is measured using 10 ml graduated cylinder and being poured into the
same 250ml beaker that contains the Congo Red and Yellow Food Colouring.
6. The solutions in the 250 ml beaker are mixed using the pipette. The pipette been placed
in the solution and the bulb of the pipette being squeezed and released while moving
the pipette throughout the solution.
7. 10 ml of the solution is pipette into the dialysis tubing.
8. A rubber band is placed gently around the top of the dialysis tubing to close it off,
similar to the bottom of the tubing.
9. The dialysis tubing is placed into the 250 ml beaker with 200 ml of water.
10. After 60 minutes, the dialysis tubing is observed.
B. Urinalysis
Urine Tests: pH, Glucose, Albumin, Yeast and Ketones Test
pH Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Before beginning this lab, safety glasses and gloves being wear.
4 test tube are taken and labelled as A, B, C and D.
Then, all four test tubes is placed into the test tube rack.
5 ml of the simulated urine is added to the corresponding test.
Then, the pH test strip being dip into each tube. After 45 seconds the test strip being
compared to the pH colour chart.
6. The pH of each of the samples is recorded.
Glucose Test
1.
2.
3.
4.

Before beginning this lab, safety glasses and gloves being wear.
4 test tube are taken and labelled as A, B, C and D.
Then, all four test tubes is placed into the test tube rack.
5 ml of the simulated urine is added to the corresponding test.

5. Then, all four tubes is placed into a hot water bath. After 3 minutes, their colour
change is recorded.
Albumin Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Before beginning this lab, safety glasses and gloves being wear.
4 test tube are taken and labelled as A, B, C and D.
Then, all four test tubes is placed into the test tube rack.
5 ml of the simulated urine is added to the corresponding test.
Then, 25 drops of buiret solution is added into each of the 4 tubes and the test tube
being swirl it around to mix up the buiret solution into the specimen. The colour
change is recorded.

Yeast Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Before beginning this lab, safety glasses and gloves being wear.
4 test tube are taken and labelled as A, B, C and D.
Then, all four test tubes is placed into the test tube rack.
5 ml of the simulated urine is added to the corresponding test.
Then, 2 ml of Hydrogen Peroxide is added into each tube and any bubbles occurs are
noted.

Ketone Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Before beginning this lab, safety glasses and gloves being wear.
4 test tube are taken and labelled as A, B, C and D.
Then, all four test tubes is placed into the test tube rack.
5 ml of the simulated urine is added to the corresponding test.
Then, by using a wafting motion the odour of each of the samples being noticed. The
observation is recorded.

Results:
A. Kidney Filtration (Dialysis tubing)
Before the experiment
Solution
Congo Red
Yellow Food Colouring

Dialysis tubing
Present
Present

Beaker
Absent
Absent

Dialysis tubing
Present
Absent

Beaker
Absent
Present

After 60 minutes
Solution
Congo Red
Yellow Food Colouring
B. Urinalysis

Sample A
Simulated Urine sample A
pH
Glucose
Albumin
Yeast
Ketones

Odour observation
5
Amber honey
Dark yellow
no
Smell caffeine

Sample B
Simulated Urine sample B
pH
Glucose
Albumin
Yeast
Ketones

Odour observation
6
Orange
Amber honey
no
Odourless

Sample C
Simulated Urine sample C
pH
Glucose
Albumin
Yeast
Ketones

Odour observation
5
Pele yellow
Transparent yellow
no
Odourless

Sample D
Simulated Urine sample D
pH
Glucose
Albumin
Yeast
Ketones

Odour observation
6
green
Pale yellow
no
Smell caffeine

Discussion:
In this experiment abut kidney filtration, the dialysis tubing used represent as glomerulus
which filter water and solutes from the blood. While Congo Red solution represent the
blood and the Yellow Food Colouring represent the waste material in the blood. The
beaker represent the Bowmans capsule which allow the diffusion of the molecules from
the blood. Kidney filter the blood to excrete toxic metabolic-by-products such as urea,
ammonia and uric acid so that the pH, volume, ionic balance and osmotic concentration
of the extracellular fluid in the body can be maintained.
The kidneys play an important role in maintaining the acid-base balance of the body.
Therefore, any condition that produces acids or bases in the body such as acidosis or
alkalosis, or the ingestion of acidic or basic foods, can directly affect urine pH. Diet can
be used to modify urine pH. A high-protein diet or consuming cranberries will make the
urine more acidic. A vegetarian diet, a low-carbohydrate diet, or the ingestion of citrus
fruits will tend to make the urine more alkaline. Some of the substances dissolved in urine
will precipitate out to form crystals when the urine is acidic and others will form crystals
when the urine is basic. If crystals form while the urine is being produced in the kidneys,
a kidney stone or calculus can develop. The normal pH for urine is 4.5-7.5. Therefore,
all urine samples in the experiment are in normal pH.
Glucose is normally not present in urine. When glucose is present, the condition is called
glucosuria. It results from either an excessively high glucose concentration in the blood,
such as may be seen with people who have uncontrolled diabetes mellitus or a reduction
in the "renal threshold." When blood glucose levels reach a certain concentration, the
kidneys begin to excrete glucose into the urine to decrease blood concentrations.
Sometimes the threshold concentration is reduced and glucose enters the urine sooner, at
a lower blood glucose concentration. In this experiment, all urine samples is negative
with glucose which means that there are no glucose present in the urine.
When urine protein is elevated, a person has a condition called proteinuria; this can be an
early sign of kidney disease. Albumin is smaller than most other proteins and is typically
the first protein that is seen in the urine when kidney dysfunction begins to develop. Other
proteins are not detected by the test pad but may be measured with a separate urine
protein test. Other conditions that can produce proteinuria include a disorders that
produce high amounts of proteins in the blood, such as multiple myeloma, the conditions
that destroy red blood cells, inflammation, malignancies (cancer), or injury of the urinary
tract - for example, the bladder, prostate, or urethra and vaginal secretions that get into
urine. In this experiment, the result shows that all urine samples does not contained
protein because the urine that contained protein will turned into violet colour after the
test.

For the yeast test, the result shows that all urine samples does not contain yeast because
there are no bubble present after the test.
Ketones are not normally found in the urine. They are intermediate products of fat
metabolism. They can form when a person does not eat enough carbohydrates (for
example, in cases of starvation or high-protein diets) or when a person's body cannot use
carbohydrates properly. When carbohydrates are not available, the body metabolizes fat
instead to get the energy it needs to keep functioning. Ketones in urine can give an early
indication of insufficient insulin in a person who has diabetes. Severe exercise, exposure
to cold, and loss of carbohydrates, such as with frequent vomiting, can also increase fat
metabolism, resulting in ketonuria. In the experiment, the result shows that some urine
maybe have a little odour present from the urine.
Conclusion:
From this experiment, we can identified a specific diseases that may have in a person
which can be detected by using urine such as early sign of kidney disease, proteinuria,
glucosuria and ketonuria.
Reference:
1. Starr, Evers, Starr, Biology Concepts and Applications, International Edition (8th
edition), 2011, Brooke/Cole, Cengage learning, United States.
2. Campbell, N, & Reece, J (2001). Biology Global Edition (7th edition), AP. San
Francisco, CA: Pearson, Education Inc.

Reflection:
In this experiment, a dialysis tubing been place with small rubber band around the
bottom of the tube to close it off. Then, a beaker been filled with 200 mL of water. The
measuring cylinder been poured 3 mL of Congo Red then been poured into another
beaker. Then, 3 mL of Yellow Food Colouring been poured into the beaker containing
Congo Red. Then, 5 mL of water been poured the beaker containing Congo Red and
Yellow Food Colouring. Then, 10 mL of the solution been pipette into the dialysis tubing.
The dialysis tube been place with rubber band around the tube top of the dialysis tubing to
close it off. The dialysis tubing been placed into the beaker containing 200 mL of water.
The dialysis tubing been observed after 60 minutes.
Then, urine sample from 4 different students are taken. Each sample been test with 5
different test. The first test is to test the pH of the urine. All students have pH from 5 to 6.
Then, then sample been test for glucose, albumin, yeast and ketones. Each has its own
specific procedure that has to be followed. After all the test is conducted, the result
obtained from all 4 samples is analysed.