Introduction The plasma membrane is an outer layer that is formed around the cell. It is composed of phospholipids and proteins and this is structure is crucial to all cells in our bodies. The plasma membrane acts as a border and more importantly is responsible for what is allowed to enter and leave the cell. The ability to allow specific molecules to enter and leave the cell is known as selective permeability and it is the phospholipids that make this unique ability possible. Membrane has a bilayer of lipids that have proteins in between them, thus resulting in making the membrane hydrophobic, that means that molecules that are polar would have difficulty passing through. Besides making it difficult for polar molecules only certain molecules with sizes equal to or smaller than the plasma …show more content…
The program known as physioEX 2. Simulated left and right beaker 3. Simulated deionized water 4. Simulated molecules (sodium chloride, glucose, urea, albumin 5. Simulated MWCO membrane (20, 50, 100, 200) 6. Simulated membrane cabinet Procedure Step 1. Open physioEX 9.1 and follow all prompts for exercise 1 to get to the experiment portion. Step 2. Place 20 MWCO membrane into membrane holder Step 3. Place sodium chloride with a concentration of 9.00 mM into left side of beaker Step 4. Place deionized water into right side of beaker Step 5. Run the experiment, once the timer hits zero record your data and flush all of the contents. Step 6. Repeat steps 3-5 with urea as your molecule. Record your data and then flush. Step 7. Replace 20 MWCO membrane with 50 MWCO membrane Step 8. Repeat steps 3-5 and collect your data. Step 9. Increase concentration of sodium chloride up to 18.00 mM and repeat steps 3-5. Step 10. Replace 50 MWCO membrane with 100 MWCO membrane. Step 11. Repeat steps 3-5 once with sodium chloride and then once more with urea Step 12. Replace 100 MWCO membrane with 200 MWCO membrane Step13. Repeat steps 3-5 once using glucose and once more using