Chris Ryan

Tuesday, 8:00 AM

9/26/10

Diffusion/Osmosis Lab

Introduction:

Diffusion is the process by which a substance enters the cell via passage through the cell

membrane. Diffusion is how cells do a plethora of things from communication to feeding.

Without diffusion cells would shrivel and die. Osmosis is the process by which water

flows in and out of the cell due to a concentration gradient. However cells can intake

more water by pinocytosis. Osmosis can drastically affect the cell if it happens to be in a

non-isotonic solution. The cell will shrink or possibly explode if it is exposed to a

hypertonic or hypotonic solution respectively. The experiments preformed were as

follows: first the students took plates filled with auger gel and used a cork borer to drill a

hole in the center in which they placed sulfuric acid and phenol red. The students did this

in order to test diffusion of the solutions through the gel over the course of 90 minutes

testing the diameter every half hour. The students expected that both solutions would

spread out evenly. The second experiment that was preformed was an experiment testing

auger gel “cells” that were put in an acetic acid solution for a prescribed amount of time

and then measured based on how much auger changed color. The students expected that

the larger of the cells would have the most amount of unfed tissue. The third experiment

was preformed by placing potato cores in differing concentrations of sodium chloride and

then weighing them every 15 minutes for 60 minutes and recording the results. The

students expected that the potato cores in the distilled water would gain the most weight.
The last experiment was the observation of sheep’s blood and elodea in isotonic,

hypertonic, and hypotonic solutions.

Procedure:

Effect of molecule size and temperature on diffusion:

1. Obtained two auger gel plates that were at either room temp or 37 Degrees

Celsius

2. Used a cork borer to bore out a hole at the center of each plate

3. Filled each hole with either phenol red or sulfuric acid depending on the color of

the gel, phenol red for the clear one and acid for the cleat one.

4. Measured the diameter of diffusion every 30 mins for 90 mins

5. Recorded results in excel spread sheet

Diffusion of nutrients versus the cell surface area/volume ratio:

1. Used the cork borer to make 6 cells of 3 different diameters creating 2 replicas of

each

2. Recorded diameter and length using the vernier scale

3. Placed all of the cells in a beaker of .5 molar acetic acid

4. Let them sit for 6 mins

5. Took each cell out and cut it in half lengthwise

6. Measeured the diameter and length of each cross-section and recorded the results.
Effect of osmosis on potato cores:

1. labled 3 beakers 0% NaCl, 1% NaCl, and 5% NaCl and filled each beaker with

200 ml of its corresponding solution

2. bored out 3 potato cores each 3 cm in length

3. rinsed the potato cores briefly and the massed them

4. placed each core in its own beaker of solution

5. took each potato core out of solution every 15 mins and massed

6. repeated the last step for 60 mins

Results:

Attatched is a excel spread sheet with all of the results for the experiments. However the

excel sheets just show raw data so a few brief summaries must be made.

Effect of molecule size and diffusion:

As is shown by the graph there is an initial diffusion spike that wanes off as time

progresses but the trend is always positive for both solutions. It also seems that it really

didn’t matter about the temp.

Diffusion of Nutrients versus the Cell Surface Area/Volume Ratio:

There was also a positive trend as the surface area to volume ratio increased the percent

fed increased.

Effect of Osmosis on Potato Cores:

The potato core in the distilled gained mass. The potato core in the 1% NaCl solution

maintained its mass. Finaly the core that was in the 5% NaCl solution lost mass due to the

fact that it was in a hypertonic solution.

Descussion:

Effect of Molecule Size and Temperature on Diffusion:

The students’ hypothesis was refuted because the phenol red only traveled a minimum

distance. This was the case because the phenol red had too big of a molecular structure to

easily pass through the agar gel. However both the sulfuric acid and the phenol red had

positive trends of growth and while not statistically significant the trend was that the 37

degree plates moved farther than the room temp plates.

Diffusion of Nutrients versus the Cell Surface Area/Volume Ratio:

Again the students hypothesis was refuted in that the cells with the largest amount of

surface area also had the largest amout of tissue fed. Indeed it was shown that as the

surface area to volume increased so did the amount of tissue fed.

Effect of Osmosis on Potato Cores:

The students hypothesis was confirmed in that the core in the distilled water did gain the

most mass. This was because the potato was in a hypotonic solution therefore osmotic

pressure was exhibited on the potato making it absorb water and therefore gain mass. The

other two arks on the graph can be accounted for by the solution strength they were in.

the 1% NaCl solution was isotonic therefore the core didn’t gain or loose mass. And the

5% NaCl solution was hypertonic so the core lost mass.

Sources of error:

Some sources of error in this experiment could be the misplacement of data in the excel

spreadsheet which would skew the results of the experiment and therefore the graph.

Another source of error could be the fact that the potato cores were not all the same size

and that too would throw off the results of the experiment.

Conclusion:

In conclusion the students learned a great deal about the importance of diffusion and

osmosis via experimentation and also learned a lot about what happens to cells when they

are exposed to differing solution concentrations. Two of the students three hypotheses

were refuted based on the facts and data presented in the spread sheets. This is important

because by being refuted the students learned more about the things being experimented

on.