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How Different Concentrations Of Glucose Effects Osmosis In Potato Cells

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My group and I are carrying out an investigation to find out how different concentrations of glucose affect osmosis in potato cells. Osmosis is the passive process of diffusing water which means within this experiment particles of water will move from a lower concentrated area to an area of higher concentration ; in this case it will be a concentration of glucose. Diffusion is when particles move from an area of high concentration to low concentration ; for example when a smell of cooking spreads through the house. Osmosis is a vital mechanism in the transport of fluids in living organisms. This point is clearly proven when you put a plant cell in water.Osmosis causes water to enter the plant cell, which results in swelling. However, the cell will not burst as the plant cell walls are made up of an extremely strong substance called cellulose. The swelling within the cell eventually stops, and at this point, the cell is said to be turgid. This process involving osmosis is important within a plant as it allows the stems to become strong and upright. There are many other cases where osmosis is responsible for the basic survival of living organisms. Here is a diagram which visually shows how osmosis will occur in this situation :

In my group we are going to perform our investigation by firstly taking five equally sized test tubes and a potato which we will take a sample of using a cork borer. Afterwards, we will cut five equal pieces of potato using a knife, so that they are more or less the same weight. Once we have weighed all the five pieces of potato, we will get the five different glucose solutions that will be used throughout the experiment. These solutions will consist of different molars of glucose. For example, there will be a solution of 0 molars, 0.2 molars, 0.4 molars, 0.6 molars and 0.8 molars. Using a measuring cylinder, we will measure accurately 10 ml of each solution and put it in the appropriate test tube which would have been labelled relavant to the molar of glucose solution going to be placed in it. Then we will get a stop watch so we can keep track of how long the pieces of potato will be in their solution for. We will make it as fair as possible by dropping a piece of potato in the 0 molar solution on 0 seconds, another piece of potato in the 0.2 molar solution on 10 seconds, a third piece of potato in the 0.4 molar solution on 20 seconds, a fourth piece of potato in the 0.6 molar solution on 30 seconds, and the final potato piece in the 0.8 molar solution on 40 seconds. We will then leave the experiment for 15 minutes as this is a reasonable time for any osmosis to occur.

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