De La Torre

Cindy De La Torre
Biology 100 Lab
Tuesday 6-8:50 pm
OSMOSIS LAB REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a selectively-permeable membrane
down a water potential gradient. More specifically, it is the movement of water across a
selectively permeable membrane from an area of high water potential (low solute concentration)
to an area of low water potential (high solute concentration). Less specifically, it is when water
moves. It is a physical process in which a solvent moves, without input of energy, across a semi
permeable membrane (permeable to the solvent, but not the solute) separating two solutions of
different concentrations. Osmosis releases energy, and can be made to do work. Osmosis is a
passive process, like diffusion. Question: How sugar affects the rate of osmosis? Hypothesis: If
the concentration of sucrose across a semi-preamble baggie increases, then the rate of osmosis
will increase

MATERIALS AND METHOD

We filled four 200m beakers with 150 mm of distilled water, and we got four selectivelypermeable baggies to fill up with 0m, .25m, .50m, and.75m of sucrose. First we tied one side of
our four baggies tightly with string and then we filled each baggie half way; one with 0M,
another with.25M, another with .50M, and the last baggie with .75M of sucrose, then we tied the
other side of the baggie tightly. We then weighed each individual baggie and wrote down there
weight. We then simultaneously placed all four baggies into individual beakers containing
150mm of distilled water and let them rest for thirty-five minutes. After thirty-five minutes we

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took the baggies out and weighed them individually again. We recorded our information once
again.

RESLUTS
In our raw chart we had 0m of sucrose weighted 13.03g, .25m of sucrose weighted
15.71g, .5m of sucrose weighted 15.45g and .75 m of sucrose weighted 19.36g. After the thirty
minutes of waiting to see if it would change in weight the 0m of sucrose ended weighting
12.98g, .25m of sucrose weighted 16.92g, .5m weighted 17.70g and .75m weighted 23.89g.
When we found the rate of osmosis we concluded that at 0m of sucrose the rate of osmosis is
100%, at .25m the rate of osmosis is 108%, at .5m the rate of osmosis is 115%, and at .75m the
rate of osmosis is 123%. When compared to the classes osmosis rate we found that at 0m of
sucrose the range was from 98%-102%, at .25m the range was from 107%-118%, at .5m the
range was from 92%-122%, at .75m the range was from 121%-128%.

DISCUSSION
The experiment supports our hypothesis because all the baggies increased in weigh so
that showed that the rate of osmosis will increase, as the concentration of sucrose increases
across a semi-preamble baggie. An observable flaw in the experiment would be the increase
weight due to the extra string not cut off. Another factor that could have affected my experiment
would have been if we took out the baggies earlier or later then the thirty-five minutes. Another
experiment that I would like to do would be increase the concentration of sucrose to the
following: .5m, 1m, 1.5m and 2m and test if the hypothesis would still work for these
measurements.

De La Torre

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Table 1: Initial and ending weight of the baggies

Sucrose
Concentration
0m
.25m
.5m
.75m

Weight before
osmosis
13.03g
15.71g
15.45g
19.36g

weight after osmosis

12.98g
16.92g
17.70g
23.89g

At 0m of sucrose concentration the initial weight was 13.03g and ended in 12.98g with a
decrease of .5 g, at .25m of sucrose concentration the initial weight was 15.71g and ended
in 16.92 g with an increase in weight of 1.21g, at .5m of sucrose concentration the initial
weight was 15.45g and ended in 17.70 g with an increase in weight of 2.25g, at .75m of
sucrose concentration the initial weight was 19.36g and ended in 23.89 g with an increase
in weight of 4.53g.

Table 2: Class raw data on the effect of sucrose concentration

on the rate of osmosis (% initial weight gain)
Sucrose Concentration
0M
0.25M
0.5M
0.75M

% Initial Weight
Gain
100
108
115
123

102
107
116
121

101
109
122
122

98
118
121
125

100
111
92
128

101
116
122
128

At 0m the range for osmosis rate was 98%-102%. There were two values of 100%, two values of
101%, one value of 98%, one value of 101%, and one value of 102%. At .25m the range for
osmosis rate was 107%-118%. There was one value of 107%%, one value of 108%, one value of
109%, one value of 111%, one value of 116%, one value of 118%. At .5m the range for osmosis
rate was 92%-122%. There were two values of 122%, one value of 92%, one value of 115%, one
value of 116%, and one value of 121%. At .75m the range for osmosis rate was 121%-128%.
There were two values of 128%, one value of 121%, one value of 122%, one value of 123%, and
one value of 125%.

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Graph 1: Trend line data reflecting %initial weight gain as a result of increased sucrose concentration

% Initial Wieght Gain

0M

.25M

.5M

.75M

Sucrose Concenttration (M)

The above trend line indicates 100% osmosis rate for 0m sucrose concentration, 109% osmosis
rate for .25m sucrose concentration, 116.5% osmosis rate for .5m sucrose concentration, and
125% osmosis rate for .75m sucrose concentration.