Osmosis Lab Report

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Abstract The whole purpose of this lab experiment was to measure how the rate of osmosis can be effected by different kind of concentration gradients. It is determined that the rate of diffusion is effected by how strong the concentration gradient is. This was determined this by taking five dialysis bags and filling each with different concentration of fructose solution. Each bag was then placed into a beaker. Four of the beakers were filled with just tap while but the last one consumed 40% sucrose solution. Each bag weighted at a certain time intervals to measure the rate of tap water in each artificial cell. The final result showed us that it is true that the rate of diffusion is determined by how strong the concentration gradient is. As…show more content…
The mass was then taken and recorded for all four dialysis bags. The tubes were then back into their solution accordingly. The process was repeated eight times for each bag in ten minute increments. The rate of diffusion of water in each solution was calculated from the difference in start and end mass divided by the amount of time the tubes were in the solution. In this experiment the independent variable was the concentration of the solution, and the dependent variable was the rate of…show more content…
It was hypothesized that a larger volume of water in the dialysis bags translates to a faster osmosis rate as well due to increased pressure. This phenomenon would be interesting to test in a different experiment. Osmosis plays a vital role in our everyday life. It is the mechanism by which our red blood cells maintain equilibrium as they pass through plasma, which is rich in salts and proteins, among other solutes (Campbell 2014). Depending on the concentration of the solution in which the red blood cell is placed, water will enter or exit its membrane in order to reach equilibrium. If the solution outside the cell is hypertonic, the cell may lose so much water that it shrivels. On the other hand, a hypotonic solution outside the cell will cause water to enter the cell, and if the cell takes up too much water, it may lyse, or burst. Understanding osmosis promotes an understanding of the reason for these behaviors of red blood

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