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Introduction
Biology contains information about all the building blocks of life, and with that come the
functions of those building blocks. The students were taught one of those many functions,
diffusion and osmosis. One of the big ideas of this lab were comprehending the idea of passive
transport and how it relates to cells. Passive transportation is the movement of molecules across a
membrane without the help of extra energy, more specifically ATP, until it has reached
equilibrium (Biggs, et al., 2012). The three branches of passive transport are simple diffusion,
facilitated diffusion, and what the lab is based solely on, osmosis (Biggs, et al., 2012). Osmosis
is the movement of water across a cell membrane from high concentrations to low
concentrations, compared to simple and facilitated diffusion where the molecule being
transferred isn’t necessarily water (Biggs, et al., 2012). Within osmosis there are three
environments that exist to represent the placement of the higher concentration of water. These
environments are hypotonic, where the water concentration is higher on the outside resulting in
the molecules to move in, isotonic, where the cell is at equilibrium, and hypertonic, where the
concentration is greater inside the cell making the molecules move out of the cell membrane
(Biggs, et al., 2012). One of the main functions of a cell membrane is to determine what comes
in and out of cell, making it either semipermeable, allows only certain things within the double
lipid bilayer, or completely permeable, which lets anything in (Biggs, et al., 2012). In order to
best represent a cell membrane in the lab, the students were given dialysis tubing which acts as a
semipermeable membrane. The tubing will show the students how osmosis is permeable to water
but not to other molecules. In the lab, the students are given examples of all three of the
environments and must look and analyze the data in order to be able to later on take real world
situations and tell the best solutions. For example, when fishing, in order to preserve a fish after
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 3
catching it, the best solution is to place it into a hypertonic environment by placing salt on it to
bring out all molecules. The purposes of part one of the experiment were to help the students
understand osmosis using a simulated cell out of dialysis tubing, to determine how different
concentration gradients effect the rate of osmosis, to see the effects of osmosis in an isotonic,
hypertonic and hypotonic environment, and how does time effect the rate of osmosis as you get
closer to equilibrium. For part two, the purpose is for the students to find out what else the
dialysis tubing is permeable to. In order to set up the lab, the students had to fill the dialysis
tubing with different solutions in order to create different concentration gradients. For part one,
the set up was: in bag 1 it was filled with 5mL tap water and placed in a beaker full of 200mL
tap water, for bag 2 it was 5mL of 20% glucose solution and was placed in a beaker full of
200mL of tap water, for bag 3 the tubing was filled with 5mL of a 40% glucose solution and
placed in a beaker full of 200mL tap water, for bag 4 there was 5mL of 60% glucose solution in
a beaker of 200mL of tap water and for bag 5 there was 5mL of tap water inside the tubing and it
was placed in a beaker with 200mL of 60% glucose (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane ). In
order to fully grasp the idea of osmosis of both parts of the lab, the students needed to identify
some key factors such and independent and dependent variables, constants and experimental and
control groups. For part one, the dependent variable was the mass in the bags after taken out of
the water, and the independent variable was the type of osmotic environment each group was
placed in. This is because the mass of the bags depended on the amount of diffusion occurring,
due to the type of environment it is in. the constants for part 1 are 5mL of solution in each bag,
200mL of solution for the beakers, tightly tied dialysis tubing, how the students timed the period
of the bags in the solutions and the process of trying off the tubes with paper towels before
putting them in the beaker. The control group for part one was the group where the dialysis
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 4
tubing filled with water was placed inside a beaker full of water, bag one. The experimental
group for part one was the other 4 beakers and the different solutions in each. For the second part
of the lab, these components are different from the first part. The dependent variable was the
color change of the water and of the starch inside the bag and the independent variable was the
placement of the starch. The constants for part two was 20 drops of iodine in the water, half a
spoon of starch in the tubing, and the very thoroughly washed baggie so there was not starch
particles on the outside of the tubing. The control group for part two was before the color change
happened, the water in the beaker was yellow and the starch inside the dialysis tubing was white.
The experimental group was after the dialysis tubing sat in the iodine water and the starch was
black and the water was white. In this experiment, the students had to come up with multiple
hypothesis’. For part one bag one, if you were to place dialysis tubing filled with water in a
beaker of water then mass will stay the same because it is in an isotonic environment. For bag
two, if you were to place dialysis tubing filled with 20% glucose solution inside a beaker full of
water then the tubing will gain mass because it will be in a hypotonic environment. For bag
three, if you place dialysis tubing filled with 40% glucose solution is placed in tap water then the
tubing with gain mass because it is in a hypotonic environment. For bag four, if you place
dialysis tubing filled with 60% glucose in a beaker filled of tap water then the tube will gain
mass because it will be in a hypotonic environment. For bag five, if you place tap water inside of
dialysis tubing in a beaker of 60% glucose solution then the mass in the tube will decrease
because it will be in a hypertonic environment. For part two of the experiment, If you place
starch inside dialysis tubing in a beaker full of iodine water then the tube will turn a blue color
because the iodine will diffuse through the tube and mix with the starch.
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 5
Materials part 1
- dialysis solution
- string
- electronic balance
- paper towels
- stopwatch
- pipette (x5)
Materials part 2
- dialysis tubing
- string
- paper towels
- iodine
- potato starch
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 6
- plastic spoon
- pipette
Procedure Part 1
1. Soak 6 pieces of dialysis tubing in water over night. Fold one end of the tubing over,
down, and then over again and tie very tightly with a piece of ribbon. For extra safety tie
several more knots and cut access off. (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane )
2. Fill Bag 1 with 5mL of tap water, bag 2 with 5mL of 20% glucose solution, bag 3 with
5mL of 40% glucose solution, bag 4 with 5mL of 60% glucose solution, bag 5 with 5mL
of tap water and bag 6 with 5mL of 80% glucose solution. (Diffusion Through Cell
Membrane )
3. After each bag is filled with 5mL of designated solution, tie the opposite end the same
way, over, down, over, as the other side and tie very tightly multiple times. Lay napkins
out and label them for each bag so they do not get mixed up. (Diffusion Through Cell
Membrane )
4. Weigh each bag individually and record data for a starting measurement to compare later
5. Place bags one through 4 in a beaker full of 500mL of tap water, and bag 5 and 6 in a
6. After 3 minutes, remove all bags at the same time, making sure not to mix them up and
place them on their labeled towel. Dry each bag off and weigh them again to the nearest
gram. After each is weighed, placed them back in the beaker at the same time (Diffusion
7. After another 3 minutes (total of 6 minutes), repeat step 6 (Diffusion Through Cell
Membrane )
8. After another 3 minutes (total of 9 minutes), repeat step 6 (Diffusion Through Cell
Membrane )
9. Record your findings of the mass of bag 1 in the table provided. For bags 2-6, do not
record the data until class averages all findings, after the class has found the average, fill
Procedure part 2
1. Soak one dialysis tubing In water and then fold the same way as part one on one side.
Make sure to tie tight and securely. (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane )
2. Fill the tube with about a spoon full of starch (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane )
3. After the starch is in the tube add about one teaspoon of starch solution (liquid). Fold the
other end the same way as step one and tie tightly (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane )
4. Rinse the bag very well and make sure there is no starch on the outside. Pat dry with a
5. Fill a beaker with about 500mL of water and add 20 drops of iodine solution. Place the
model cell into the iodine water. Fill initial color of the baggie and the water in the table
6. After one night, observe the model cell (Diffusion Through Cell Membrane )
7. Record any color change that might have happen inside or outside the tubing (Diffusion
Results Part 1
after each bag completed the 9 minute time frame, the data was recording and averaged between
the 3 classes. What was found was bag 1 ( water in water) gained 208 milligrams of mass in the
first 3 minutes. Bag 2 (20% in water) gained 317 milligrams of mass in the first 3 minutes. Bag 3
(40% in water) gained 408 milligrams of mass in the first 3 minutes. Bag 4 (60% in water)
gained 567 milligrams of mass in the first 3 minutes. Bag 5 (water in 60%) lost 50 milligrams of
mass in the first 3 minutes. Bag 6 (80% in 60%) gained 241 milligrams of mass in the first 3
minutes. In the second 3 minutes, which would come to a total of 6 minutes, bag 1 gained 291
milligram of mass. In bag 2 the tube gained 534 milligrams of mass. Bag 3 gained 800
milligrams of mass. Bag 4 gained 1009 milligrams of mass. Bag 5 lost 533 milligrams of mass,
and bag 6 gained 316 milligrams of mass. In the final 3 minutes, total of 9 minutes, bag 1 gained
249 milligrams of mass. Bag 2 gained 701 milligrams of mass. Bag 3 gained 1108 milligrams of
mass. Bag 4 gained 1409 milligrams of mass. Bag 5 lost 783 milligrams of mass, and bag 6
Table 1 shows the mass of the 6 different types of dialysis tubing at 4 different time variables.
After each time slot, 0 seconds, 3 seconds, 6 seconds and 9 second, were completed the students
weighed each bag separately to find the mass. Since all classes started with different initial mass,
their needed to find consistent masses in order to make an accurate graph. For bag 1, the bag
was filled with 5mL of tap water and was placed in a beaker of tap water. Bag 2 was filled with a
20% glucose solution and was placed in a beaker of tap water. Bag 3 was filled with a 40%
glucose solution and was placed in a beaker of tap water. Bag 4 was filled with a 60% glucose
solution and was in a beaker of tap water. Bag 5 was filled with water and was placed in a beaker
of 60% glucose solution. Bag 6 was filled with an 80% glucose solution and was placed in an
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 9
beaker of 60% glucose. The table shows the average of the classes results. each group had
individual results but calculated them to find the most accurate statistics.
Part two of the experiment was the starch inside the tube and the water with 20 drops of iodine in
the beaker. The solution inside the tube at the start was white, and the color in the beaker was
yellow. The next class period, the color inside the dialysis bag was blue/black, and the water in
Discussion
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 10
After the data was collected and analyzed, it was evident of the students that each bag was placed
into a different osmotic environment which was the reason for the mass gain or lose in part 1,
and color change in part 2. Bag 1 was filled with water and was placed in a beaker of water. This
resulted in the simulated cell to be placed in an isotonic environment which is why during the
experiment it gained and lost very little, to no mass, because it had already reached equilibrium.
Although the cell was in equilibrium, it still showed signs of gaining and loses mass, which is
because water has net movement meaning it is constantly moving. As the cell gets closer to
equilibrium, the rate of osmosis slows down because not as much work is needed because the
cell becomes closer to its goal. This goal of osmosis is to reach equilibrium however, all the cells
following bag 1 are going to gain mass or loose it in order to move closer to the equilibrium
state. Bag 2, which is 20% glucose solution inside the bag with water in the beaker, is placed in a
hypotonic environment. This means that the amount of water on the outside is greater than the
inside, so the cell will take in more water than let out resulting in it to gain mass, which it did. In
bag 3, 40% glucose solution within the bag and water in the beaker, their was a mass gain a little
larger than bag 2 because the cell was further away from equilibrium. In bag 4, 60% glucose
solution in beaker of water, the bag gained mass because it is placed in a hypotonic environment.
Bag 5, tube filled with water in a beaker of 60% glucose solution, was the one of this example in
which the bag was placed into a hypertonic environment, meaning the more water was placed
inside the cell causing it to move outside of the cell, resulting in it to loose mass which it did.
The last bag, bag 6, was filled with 80% glucose solution and placed in a beaker of 60% glucose
solution. This bag was placed into a hypotonic environment, resulting in it to gain mass. The
reason why some of the bags gained more mass than other is because of the intensity of the
concentration gradient in each one. The higher the concentration gradient, the more mass was
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 11
gained because the cell is further away from equilibrium. In contrary, the less concentration
gradient, the less mass was transferred because it was close to reaching equilibrium.
In the experiment, there was two different groups that the concentration gradient was 20
apart. This was the 20% glucose solution and the water, and the 80% glucose solution inside the
beaker full of the 60% solution. Even though the two groups had the same concentration
gradient, the 20% glucose solution in water gained more mass than the 80% in 60%. This is
because the 80% glucose solution in a beaker of 60% glucose solution has two sets of groups,
meaning that there are bigger and more molecules than it would have if it was just water, making
it harder for the molecules to pass through the simulated cell membrane. The gradient of the 80%
and 60% solution is greater meaning that the rate of osmosis will be slower (A Complete
The second part of the lab involved the starch inside the cell and the iodine solution in the
beaker. The inside of the simulated cell turned blue after a night of it sitting inside the iodine
water. With this information, it can be concluded that that is because the dialysis tubing was
permeable to the iodine and when it mixed with the starch it turned blue. Besides this the dialysis
Every experiment has errors, and this experiment was no different. Sources of error that
may have caused the experiment to not be accurate was the tying of the ribbons on the tubing. If
the ribbons were not tight enough then the bags could’ve weighed more than they would of.
Another error was the timing of taking the bags in and out of the beakers. The first round of the
experiment, the students took them out not all at once, and it could have made some bags weigh
more than they were supposed to. A third source of error was drying them off not well enough, if
there were water particles on the outside of the bag, it could’ve added extra mass. The last source
Diffusion Through Cell Membrane Lab 12
of error is, after each bag was filled with the glucose solution, if it was not rinsed off well
enough the glucose solution could have mixed with the water in the beaker making the dialysis
If one thing could be changed, it would require a longer period, but the time intervals
should’ve been longer so the students could see the simulated cell reach equilibrium and the
Resources
A Complete Resource Guide On Osmosis . (200). (APEC Water ) Retrieved from APEC Water:
https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/resource-a-complete-resource-guide-to-osmosis.htm
Biggs, A., Hagins, W., Holliday, W. G., Kapicka, C. L., Lundgren, L., MacKenzie , A., . . . Zike,