An investigation into osmosis in potato tissue.

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AS LEVEL BIOLOGY/ HUMAN BIOLOGY PRACTICAL WORK

AN INVESTIGATION INTO OSMOSIS IN POTATO TISSUE

1. PLAN

AIM

The aim of this investigation is to place pieces of potato tissue into salt solutions of different strengths and to measure changes in the potato tissue.

INTRODUCTION

Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region where they are of a high concentration (the solution has a high water potential) to a region where they are of a low concentration (low water potential) across a partially permeable membrane.

The diagram below shows this process, where the water potential on the right is lower than that on the left as the molecules of water on the right are in lower concentration. Over time, the net movement of water molecules will be from left to right until such time as the water potentials on both sides are in equilibrium.

The significance of the process described above for plant cells is that if plant tissue is immersed in a solution of a higher water potential than itself, the net movement of water molecules will be into the cells, thus causing