Varying Extracellular Concentration Lab Report
Noel Arackal
1.25.16
Bisc 4930
Experiment No. 1 – Varying Extracellular Concentration
Introduction:
This experiment sets out to determine the tonicity of solutions with varying concentrations of sodium chloride on the red blood cells of sheep by measuring the transmittance of a red blood cell/NaCl solution with a spectrometer. This is done in order to study the effects of solutions containing varying levels of tonicity to red blood cells. Tonicity describes what happens to a cell when it is placed in a certain solution. Hypertonic solutions contain a lower solute concentration than the cell cytoplasm, hypotonic solutions contain a higher solute concentration than the cell’s cytoplasm, and isotonic solutions contain relatively the same …show more content…
The initial decreases in transmittance, from 0mM to 120mM were fairly small. However, after NaCl concentration of 120, transmittance decreases significantly, and very drastically, until it reaches a value of 10.
Discussion/Conclusion:
From these results, it is apparent, that as the NaCl concentration increased, the cells shriveled up, decreasing their size, which resulted in a lower transmittance. This indicates that NaCl acts increasingly hypertonic as its concentration increases. Additionally, this indicates that as the concentration of NaCl increases, water moves from the cytoplasm of the cell, out into the NaCl solution. These findings are in line with the hypothesis and prove that as the concentration of NaCl in the solution increases, the transmittance should decrease, as more cells will shrink with the increasing hypertonicity of the solution. Using the results of this experiment, future labs can narrow in on the exact range of NaCl concentration where the solution is isotonic with respect to the blood. This research can further be applied to determine the proper range for solutions which are injected into the bloodstream to decrease the likelihood of adverse effects
1.25.16
Bisc 4930
Experiment No. 1 – Varying Extracellular Concentration
Introduction:
This experiment sets out to determine the tonicity of solutions with varying concentrations of sodium chloride on the red blood cells of sheep by measuring the transmittance of a red blood cell/NaCl solution with a spectrometer. This is done in order to study the effects of solutions containing varying levels of tonicity to red blood cells. Tonicity describes what happens to a cell when it is placed in a certain solution. Hypertonic solutions contain a lower solute concentration than the cell cytoplasm, hypotonic solutions contain a higher solute concentration than the cell’s cytoplasm, and isotonic solutions contain relatively the same …show more content…
The initial decreases in transmittance, from 0mM to 120mM were fairly small. However, after NaCl concentration of 120, transmittance decreases significantly, and very drastically, until it reaches a value of 10.
Discussion/Conclusion:
From these results, it is apparent, that as the NaCl concentration increased, the cells shriveled up, decreasing their size, which resulted in a lower transmittance. This indicates that NaCl acts increasingly hypertonic as its concentration increases. Additionally, this indicates that as the concentration of NaCl increases, water moves from the cytoplasm of the cell, out into the NaCl solution. These findings are in line with the hypothesis and prove that as the concentration of NaCl in the solution increases, the transmittance should decrease, as more cells will shrink with the increasing hypertonicity of the solution. Using the results of this experiment, future labs can narrow in on the exact range of NaCl concentration where the solution is isotonic with respect to the blood. This research can further be applied to determine the proper range for solutions which are injected into the bloodstream to decrease the likelihood of adverse effects