Osmosis Lab Report

Osmosis is the process of a solvent passing through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution to a higher concentrated solution, creating equilibrium on both sides. It is possible to test this process in multiple ways, one being the use of celery plants (which are made mostly of water) and inserting them into solutions containing different solvents. This will test the affect of different solvents on the osmosis of the water in celery plants.

If the celery is placed in different solutions, then the change in mass of the celery will differ according to the different solutes tested. Osmosis is a fairly straightforward subject in science. It is not commonly researched, and people aren’t constantly finding new discoveries, because everything to know about osmosis has already been discovered. If an object with a low water concentration is placed in a glass with high water concentration, the water from the glass will enter

the object to equalize the concentration of water in both the glass and the object.
When there is a higher solute concentration in the glass than in the object, the water in the object will move to the glass to equalize water concentration.

This is called a hypertonic process. If the situation is reversed, and water is entering the object from the glass, this process is known as hypotonic. When both the glass and the object in the glass have an equal water and solute concentration, this is known as an isotonic state.

The process of osmosis has a few limiting factors. Osmosis can only occur through a semipermeable membrane, meaning there are proteins on the phospholipid bilayer that regulate what can come in and out of the cell. It also takes longer for the two sides to become equal if the solvent particles are bigger on one side, and if the particles are less crowded. If the particles are bigger, it is harder to get them through the membrane. If the two sides are almost at an equal state of water and solute concentration, it will take longer for the water to diffuse to the other side of the

membrane.
Osmosis functions in multiple different important ways. It can assist plants in receiving water by letting the vacuoles in each cell of the plant have water, thus keeping the cells full and preventing the plant from wilting. Osmosis can also help keep certain foods preserved (such as meats and fruits). When preserving fruits, osmosis is used to dehydrate them and keeping them from expiring or getting too old. When preserving meats, osmosis is used to draw salt into the meat, preventing the growth of bacteria on the inside. Osmosis can even be used during kidney dialysis treatment.
Because celery is made of about ninety-five percent water, it would be an effective object to use to test the affects of osmosis. By putting the celery into different solutions, such as water with added salt, sugar, and baking soda, there will be a change in the mass of the celery. The concentrations of water and solutes are both different to begin with, but after at least a day, through the process of osmosis, water will either move into the celery plant or out of the celery plant (hypotonic or hypertonic), causing a change in mass. It will be interesting to see how the different solutes affect the change in mass of the celery, for example: if the salt solution makes the celery’s mass decrease more than the sugar solution. There will have to be a control as well as the other solutions, and the control will be a plain glass of water with a celery plant in it. This will also create a general idea of how much the solutes are affecting the original mass.