Osmosis

• What are the safety precautions for the osmosis RP?

  Handle the cork borer and scalpel with care
• Why is it necessary to blot the cylinders with paper after removing them?

  Each cylinder may have a different amount of water on its surface, so masses may vary. Blotting cylinders allows masses to be comparable
• What is osmosis?

  The movement of water from a higher water potential to a lower water potential through a partially permeable membrane
• Describe how you would carry out an investigation into osmosis using potato tissue

  Cut identical potato cylinders using a cork borer, measure and record the length and mass of the cylinders using a ruler and a balance, add each cylinder to one of three solutions: 1M sugar solution, 0.5M sugar solution and distilled water, leave the cylinders in tubes overnight, remove the cylinders from tubes and blot them using paper towels, record the length and mass of each cylinder, draw the graph of change in mass in grams against concentration of solution in mol/dm^-3
• Why is it necessary to use a cork borer to cut the cylinders?

  Results in equal sized samples so changes in length and mass can be easily compared