How Does Sugar Concentration Affect Osmosis
An investigation how sugar solutions of different concentrations affect osmosis.
Research
Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a partially permeable membrane from a dilute solution to one of a higher concentration.
If a solution has a low concentration then the amount of (in the case of my investigation) sugar, the solute, will be low and the solution will be weak. If there is high amount of sugar then the solution will be concentrated (have a high concentration).
When two solutions are divided by a partially permeable membrane; water will move from the area where there is a high concentration of water to where there is low until both sides are equal. This is known as reaching equilibrium.
A cell is turgid when it swells to its maximum volume due to large water content. Opposite to this is plasmolysis (or flaccid) where there is not enough water in the cell and the cell membrane begins to contract.
Image courtesy of the BBC website.
Factors which affect osmosis:
The difference in concentration affects the speed ay which osmosis takes place - the greater the difference in concentrations, the faster the water molecules will diffuse.
External Pressure- osmosis is slowed down if there is external pressure acting against the flow of water molecules. This is due to the fact that will need more energy …show more content…
In a concentration of 0.6m/l, when averaged, the potato pieces had neither lost nor gained mass therefore the potato and the solution must have had the same concentration. In concentrations of 0.8 and 1.0 both lost a mass of 0.35g showing that in these concentrations both had become flaccid. These results match what I found out in my
Research
Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a partially permeable membrane from a dilute solution to one of a higher concentration.
If a solution has a low concentration then the amount of (in the case of my investigation) sugar, the solute, will be low and the solution will be weak. If there is high amount of sugar then the solution will be concentrated (have a high concentration).
When two solutions are divided by a partially permeable membrane; water will move from the area where there is a high concentration of water to where there is low until both sides are equal. This is known as reaching equilibrium.
A cell is turgid when it swells to its maximum volume due to large water content. Opposite to this is plasmolysis (or flaccid) where there is not enough water in the cell and the cell membrane begins to contract.
Image courtesy of the BBC website.
Factors which affect osmosis:
The difference in concentration affects the speed ay which osmosis takes place - the greater the difference in concentrations, the faster the water molecules will diffuse.
External Pressure- osmosis is slowed down if there is external pressure acting against the flow of water molecules. This is due to the fact that will need more energy …show more content…
In a concentration of 0.6m/l, when averaged, the potato pieces had neither lost nor gained mass therefore the potato and the solution must have had the same concentration. In concentrations of 0.8 and 1.0 both lost a mass of 0.35g showing that in these concentrations both had become flaccid. These results match what I found out in my