Deborah Chen December 17, 2012 AP Biology C Block Abstract The purpose for these experiments was to determine

how cell size and shape affect rate of diffusion, how different solutions that make up the cell affect rate of diffusion, and to understand why interactions between selectively permeable membranes, water, and solutes are important in cellular and organismal functions. For the first procedure, a block of agar was cut up into three different sized pieces. These pieces were then placed in three petri dishes, each containing 0.1 M HCl solution. For the second procedure, five dialysis tubes were prepared to represent cells. Three contained water, one contained glucose, and the last one contained NaCl. One tube of water was placed in glucose, one was placed in NaCl, and the third was placed in water. The tubes of glucose and NaCl were each placed in separate beakers of water. These beakers containing water, glucose, and NaCl represent the outside of a cell. For the third procedure, a potato was cut up into five, small pieces that were then placed into colored, unlabeled sucrose solutions of 1 M, 0.8 M, 0.6 M, 0.4 M, and 0.2 M. For the first procedure, the first block of agar took 4.3 minutes to turn clear, the second block took7.2 minutes, and the last one took 10 minutes to turn. For the second procedure, the cell containing glucose lost 29% of its weight, the cell surrounded by glucose gained 34%, the cell containing NaCl lost 35%, the cell surrounded by NaCl lost 22%, and the cell containing and surrounded by water lost 31%. For the third procedure, the potato placed in the blue solution gained 20% of its weight, the potato placed in the green solution gained 30%, the potato placed in the yellow solution lost 18%, the potato placed in the clear solution gained 33%, and the potato placed in the pink solution did not change weight. The results of the first procedure were expected, as diffusion occurs faster when the substance is smaller. Therefore, there is less surface area

and volume to diffuse through. The results of the second procedure, however, were unexpected. While we expected the cells containing solutions differing from the solution it was placed in, we did not expect the cell containing and surrounded by water to change weight. Diffusion occurs when a substance diffuses from a region with higher solute concentration to a region with lower solute concentration. It would not have made sense for the cell containing water to change weight, as it was placed in a beaker of water. Some possible sources of error could be a mistake in labeling the substances, as glucose, NaCl, and water are all clear substances. The results of the third procedure were unexpected, as the concentration of each solution was unknown. From our data, we concluded that the pink solution and the potato shared the same concentration of 0.4 M, resulting in no change in weight.

Procedure 1 Data
Cell 1 2 3 Surface Area 5.5 cm 8 cm 13 cm Volume 0.75 cm 1.5 cm 3 cm Time it took for agar to turn clear 4:20 7:10 10:00

Procedure 2 Data
Cell 1 2 3 4 5 Solution Inside Cell Glucose Water NaCl Water Water Solution Outside Cell Water Glucose Water NaCl Water Initial Weight 13.6 g 10.8 g 11.4 g 10.3 g 10.4 g Final Weight 9.6 g 14.5 g 7.4 g 8.0 g 7.1 g % Change in Weight -29% 34% -35% -22% -31%

Procedure 3 Data
Cell 1 2 3 4 5 Initial Weight 1g 1g 1.1 g 1.2 g 1.2 g Final Weight 1.2 g 1.3 g 0.9 g 1.6 g 1.2 g % Change in Weight 20% 30% -18% 33% 0%

Graph: Solution Concentration vs. % Change in Weight

Molar Concentration vs. % Change in Weight

40 30 20 10 % Change in Weight 0 0 -10 -20 -30 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Conclusion Questions: Which solution is an acid? HCl Which solution is a base? NaOH What color is the dye in the base? In the acid? Red brown in the base, clear in the acid What is the surface area of each of your three cells? - 5.5 cm, 8 cm, 13 cm What is the total volume of each of your cells? - 0.75 cm, 1.5 cm, 3 cm Which pair(s) that you tested did not have a change in weight? How can you explain this? All of our pairs had a significant change in weight, even the water/water pair. This is due to differing solute concentrations of the solutions. However, the change in weight for the water/water pair could be due to mislabeling of the solutions. If you compared 1 M solutions, was a 1 M NaCl solution more or less hypertonic than a 1 M sucrose solution? What is your evidence? What about 1 M NaCl and 1 M glucose and 1 M sucrose? A 1 M NaCl solution would be more hypertonic than a 1 M sucrose solution and a 1 M glucose solution. How could you test for the diffusion of glucose? To test for diffusion of glucose, you could mix the glucose with an indicator that reacts to a certain solution and place the glucose in a dialysis tube, which would then be placed in a beaker of solution. If the indicator is present outside the tube, glucose has diffused. Based on what you learned from your experiment, how could you determine the solute concentration inside a living cell? You could place solutions of known concentrations around the cell and measure how much weight it lost.