Effect Of Sucrose Concentration On Osmosis

I. Research Question
What are the effects of different sucrose concentrations on potato stripes which have been submerged in a range of solute sucrose concentrations.
II. Background Information
Osmosis is one of the four methods of moving particles across membranes along with simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and active transport. Water is able to move in and out of most cells freely. Sometimes the number of water molecules moving in and out is the same and there is no net movement, but at other times the molecular movement from one direction exceeds the movement from other direction and creates a net movement. This net movement is called osmosis.

Osmosis is due to differences in the concentration of solutes. Substances dissolve by forming bonds with water molecules. These bonds prevent the movement of the water molecules. Areas with a higher solute concentration therefore have a lower concentration of water molecules free to move than areas with a lower solute concentration. Because of this there is a net movement of water from regions of lower solute concentration to regions with higher solute concentration.
An isotonic solution has the same osmolarity as a tissue. A hypertonic solution has a higher osmolarity and a hypotonic solution has a lower osmolarity. If samples of a tissue are bathed in hypertonic and hypotonic solutions, and measurements are taken to find out whether water enters or leaves the tissue, it is possible to deduce what concentration of solution would be isotonic and therefore predict the results of osmosis in different tissues in terms of a gain of mass or a loss of