Effect on Solute
Concentration in
Dialysis Tubing After
30 Minutes
Written By: Alexis Andino
Date Written: September 10, 2018
Abstract
The purpose of this lab was to discover how varying concentrations of sucrose in dialysis
tubing affect the amount of distilled water entering the tubing when submerged in it. In the
procedure, we measured the masses of five different concentration tubes before submerging the
tubes into distilled water, waited for a 30 minute period to pass, and then measured the masses
once more after removing the tubes from the water. With this information, we calculated the
percent change in mass of the tubings. Generally, the results showed that with the higher
concentrations of solutes in tubing, the higher the percent change.
Introduction
The information available to me came from a variety of sources including my biology
textbook, online research, my biology notes, and additional help from my teacher. Previous to
the lab, my biology class had recently covered diffusion, and how it functions within the cell. We
first covered basic diffusion: the movement of a substance from high concentrations to low
concentrations. Then we moved onto the cell semipermeable membrane is what dictates which
substances pass through. Following that, we covered osmosis: the movement of a solvent into a
higher concentration in order to balance out solute concentration.
With this information in mind, we were curious to know what happened when different
solute concentrations inside the simulated cell compared to the distilled water on the outside. We
took to using external resources to find answers. According to Apec Water “the movement of
osmosis is affected by the concentration gradient; the lower the concentration of the solute within
a solvent, the faster osmosis will occur in that solvent”. This meaning that when lower solute
concentration is decreased, more water is able to leave and more solute can enter. Also, this
implies that when the solute concentration is increased, osmosis will occur at a slower rate.
The purpose of this lab was to demonstrate the effects of solute concentration on osmosis.
Through measuring the mass of the dialysis tubes with different solute concentrations before and
after submerging it in distilled water, we are able to analyze the effects. The experiment supports
the claim in that as solute concentration increases, the change is mass should as well, visa-versa.
Research Question:
To what effect does varying solute concentrations of sucrose placed in dialysis tubing
have on percent change of mass when placed in a hypotonic solution?
Hypothesis:
If the concentration of solutes in increased within the dialysis tubing, then the percent
change in mass will increase when placed in a hypotonic solution.
Variables:
In this experiment, the independent variables are the amount of glucose solute is placed in the
dialysis tubing in the beginning. The dependent variables are the final masses in grams of the
glucose solut...
