An Investigation into the Factors which Affect Osmosis Essay -- GCSE B

An Investigation into the Factors which Affect OsmosisOsmosis is defined as the movement of water molecules from a higherconcentration to a lower concentration finished a part permable membrane. Osmosis occurs with molecule moving in and issue, thesemolecules move across the plants cell membrane. The plants cellmembrane is partially permable and and then it has small holes in itwhich allow for small water molecules to pass through it howeverlarger molecules such as glucose through. However on the out side of the plant cells in that location is a cell wall ofcellulose that has larger holes that let anything pass through it.This cell wall is totally permeable and therefore will allow largermolecules such as glucose through it, save the larger molecules canstill not pass the cell membrane. When these cells are in a ascendantwhich has a higher concentration of water than the cells concentrationof water the water will diffuse into the cell as the water moves froma higher concentrat ion (the solution) to the lower concentration (thecells.) As more and more water enters the cell the cell wall starts toexpand and the cell starts to become turgid. point is a plant cell is placed in a solution where there is a highwater concentration and a weak bread solution (say a 0.1 d/mol3 strong)there will still be more water outside the cell than intimate the celltherefore there will still be an increase in volume and weight. Thismeans that when the plant cells are placed in a strong sugar solution(where there is more sugar than water.) there will be a decrease inweight and volume. This process is defined as plasmolysis. This iswhere the cell membrane pulls away from the cell wall, this is becausea lot of water has been moved from the cell as the plant cell has thestrong concentration of water and the solution has a weakconcentration the water will move from the plant top the water.Sometimes the cell will shrivel up completely and it becomes voiced.This is represented in t he diagram belowWith osmosis occurring there will eventually be a point where theconcentration of water will be equal to the concentration inside thecell. This means that with the water still diffusing in and out therewill be equal amounts going in and out. This means that osmosis isstill occurring but the plant or the solution is either gaining o... ...ainst the cellwall, the tugor pressure will reach its maximum and the cells willnot be able to lift out in any more water. At the other end of the line, Iwould expect the line to eventually curve off horizontally. Once thecell becomes flaccid and the cell membrane collapses, no more waterwould be able to escape.I did predict that the stronger the solution the more the potato chipswould lose weight. I desire my results have proven this.EvaluationI am pleased with the way my experiment has gone, I did not comeacross too many problems and about of my points on the graph were closeto the line of best fit. Therefore I am happy with th e accuracy of myresults.I think my method was adequate for producing dead on target results I couldstill improve it. I couldve also tried to measure the potato chipsmore accurately when cutting them.I feel my investigation on the whole was a sucsess. I achievedreliable and accurate results. however I could increase my confidencein my conclusions by repeating the experiment with another cultivated carrot toback it up. But on the whole my experiment matched my prediction and Iam happy about my results and the way I conducted it.