Noadswood Science, 2012

Osmosis

Osmosis To understand what osmosis is and how it works

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Osmosis Eggs Look at the different ‘osmosis eggs’ – why do they appear

different and what caused their appearance to be this way?

Osmosis Eggs The eggs have been placed in different conditions – they

were all soaked in vinegar to remove the shell…One has been placed in sugar syrup – this has decreased

in sizeOne has been placed in water – this has increased in size

This is all due to osmosis…

Osmosis Water can move across cell membranes because of osmosis –

osmosis is the net movement of water molecules across a partially permeable membrane from a high concentration to a low concentration

For osmosis to happen you need: -Two solutions with different

concentrations

A partially permeable membrane to separate them (a partially permeable membrane lets some substances pass through them, but not others

Osmosis Eventually the level on the more concentrated side of the

membrane rises, while the one on the less concentrated side falls

When the concentration is the same on both sides of the membrane, the movement of water molecules will be the same in both directions – at this point, the net exchange of water is zero and there is no further change in the liquid levels

Importance Of Osmosis Osmosis is important to plants – they gain water by osmosis through

their roots as well as controlling the water content of some specialised cells

Stomata are tiny holes which allow CO2 into the leaf (they also allow water to escape) – they are pores which open and close automatically controlled by guard cells

When there is lots of water they become turgid so the pore opens

When there is not much water they become flacid which closes the pore preventing water loss but it also stops CO2 getting in so photosynthesis stops too!

Osmosis Experiment Set up the potato tubes experiment – after the experiment is

set up predict what will happen to the potatoes

Experiment 1 – place some potato tubes in pure water Experiment 2 – place some potato tubes in rich sugar / salt

solution

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Potato tube

Pure water Rich sugar / salt solution

Potato tube

Explanation Explain your results for the potato tube experiment – why did the

potato tubes swell / shrink? How could you have been more precise in this experiment?

The mass before / after the experiment could have been recorded, and doing more than one experiment would increase the reliability and validity of the experiment

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Potato tube

Pure water Rich sugar / salt solution

Potato tube

Osmosis Experiment In pure water the potato tubes swell because water enters

the cells via osmosis (water moves from the [high] in the beaker to the [low] in the potato)

In rich sugar / salt solution the potato tubes shrink because water leaves the cells via osmosis (water moves from the relative [high] in potato to the [low] in the beaker solution)

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Potato tubes swell

Pure water Rich sugar / salt solution

Potato tubes shrink

Osmosis Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules across a

partially permeable membrane from a region of high water concentration to a region of low water concentration

Water moves into and out of cells by osmosis

Sports Drinks Sports drinks contain sugars to replace the sugar used during

exercise, as well as water and ions to replace those lost during sweating

If the water and ions are not replaced the ion/water balance of the body is disturbed which means the cells do not work as efficiently (and in the worst case can lead to serious health issues)…

A 22-year-old man died after completing his first London Marathon because he drank too much water. David Rogers collapsed at the

end of the race and died yesterday in Charing Cross Hospital.

Today it emerged the fitness instructor from Milton Keynes died from hyponatraemia, or water intoxication.

This is when there is so much water in the body that it dilutes vital minerals such as sodium down to dangerous levels.

It can lead to confusion, headaches and a fatal swelling of the brain.