Osmosis Lab Report Research Question: How does the change in the concentration of a sucrose solution affect the process of osmosis in a potato cell by measuring its mass? Background information: 1 Osmosis is the process by which a liquid passes through a semi-permeable membrane, moving from an area with a high concentration of water to a low concentration of water. There are various factors that affect osmosis such as: concentration, surface area and temperature. The concentration of solutions can affect the rate of osmosis, as there is more difference in the concentration of the solutions, which means osmosis, will take place quicker. Surface area could affect osmosis based on the ease by which molecules can get through the semi-permeable …show more content…
By using the same mass of potato slices and putting them in different concentration of solutions for a specific amount of time will tell us how the concentration changes the mass of the potato slice. Therefore changing the rate of osmosis. Hypothesis: I predict that, if the piece of potato was put into a solution that has a high concretion of sucrose then the potato slice would lose mass as it would lose water from its cells because the water is moving out of the cell from a high concentration to a low concentration of water through a semi- permeable membrane. The cell is hypotonic and the solution is hypertonic. Plasmolysis takes place as the cell loses water. Whereas if the piece of potato were put into a solution that has a low concentration of sucrose then the potato piece would increase in mass because the water is moving into the cell, which means the water is moving from a higher concentration (solution) to a lower concentration (cell). The cell is hypertonic and the solution is hypotonic. If the potato piece were put into a solution that was of an accurate concentration (which means that it was neither concentrated nor dilute) then the potato slice would neither gain nor lose mass because the concentration of water and the solute (sucrose) is equal in both the cell and solution. Both, the cell and the solution are