Osmosis Plant Cells

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The Reaction of Plant Cells when Osmosis occurs in different solution types. Guyton & Hall (2000). Guyton & Hall (2000). Abstract The purpose of this experiment was to examine how plant cells, in particular Solanum tuberosum cells react when immersed in hypotonic and hypertonic solutions. To complete the experiment, sixteen 1cm cylinders had to be cut up, weighed and immersed in each solution for a period of thirty minutes at 5 minute intervals. The laboratory demonstrator will prepare slides from each solution and record those results also. A major finding in this experiment was that cylinders in the hypotonic solution gained weight and became lyse. The cylinders that were in the hypertonic solution became flaccid and lost weight. This is called plasmolysis. Introduction The aim of this experiment is to investigate osmosis and plasmolysis in potato (Solanum tuberosum) cells when immersed in different solution types. The types of solutions that will be used in this experiment are distilled water, 0.5 NaCl and 1.0 NaCl. Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a permeable membrane from a region of high water concentration to low water concentration until even. The semi permeable membrane only allows small molecules such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and glucose to pass through, yet it does not allow larger molecules such as starch and proteins. (Newton & Joyce, 2003). A plant cell has a strong cell membrane and in the centre is a vacuole, which holds the cell sap, food and water, yet removes waste. When a solution is said to be hypotonic, this means that the solute concentration outside the cell is lower than inside the cell. This causes the vacuole to swell and the cell to become turgid. If a solution is said to be hypertonic, it is meant that the solute concentration outside the cell has a higher concentration than inside the

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