Osmosis Lab Report

Savannah Martinez

Professor Sarah Hutchins

Biology 1406-61006

28 September 2014

Biological Process: Osmosis

Osmosis is the diffusion of free water molecules across a selectively permeable membrane. Basically osmosis is the process to create an equal balance in water and matter. The reason osmosis occurs is quiet simple. In one's body osmosis plays an important role, osmosis controls the flow of molecules between the blood and other tissues. Water carries nutrients in an opposite direction when it diffuses in and out. Health wise is even a bigger issue: imagine you didn’t have enough water in your body, one cannot maintain a good flow of nutrients and waste, that may make them weak. That’s why one needs to drink plenty of water on hot summery days, especially if there is any

Isotonic refers to a solution that when surrounding a cell causes no net movement of water into or out of a cell. Hypertonic deals with a solution that when is enclosing a cell will cause the cell to lose water. Lastly hypotonic is a solution that surrounds a cell and will cause it to take up water. When animal and plant cells go through these solutions they come across some similarities and of course differences. When an animal cell is stable in one solution. Through an isotonic solution, the cell contains no cell wall there is no net movement, therefore the solution creates a stable environment. Everything gets distributed evenly in and out. In the hypertonic solution, the cell will lose water and shrivel up which would probably lead to the death of cells in the animals body. That is why certain animals can maintain a living environment in salt water, so if salt shows up in a clear body of water those animals might not be able to stabilize which can eventually lead to their death. The last tonicity for an animal cell is the hypotonic solution, water will enter the cell faster than it leaves. Thus creating the cell to swell and form a lysed cell, a