For many other molecules and ions, favorable diffusion gradients do not exist. For example, sodium ions are present at higher concentrations outside mammalian cells than inside the cells, yet the net movement of sodium ions is from the inside to the outside of the cell. Likewise, potassium ions are found inside mammalian cells at significantly higher concentrations than outside the cell, but the net movement of potassium ions is from the outside to the inside of the cell. For such molecules and ions, cellular energy must be used to transport the molecules across the plasma membrane. Active transport occurs when transport proteins in the cell membrane bind with the substrate and use cellular energy to drive the “pumping” of the molecules into or out of the cell, against the concentration gradient.
In today’s lab you will observe Brownian motion, osmosis, and diffusion in the solid, liquid and gaseous state, and investigate the parameters that affect the rate of diffusion of molecules. In next week’s lab, which is a continuation of your investigation of diffusion and the properties of cell membranes, you will model a semi-permeable membrane and investigate the behavior of different types of cells in hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic solutions.
Observing Brownian Motion
The vibratory movement exhibited by small particles in suspension in a fluid was first observed by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown in 1827. Brown incorrectly concluded that living activity was the cause of this movement, but we now know that Brownian movement results from the collisions between water molecules and small particles (less than 10 micrometers in diameter) suspended in the water.
To illustrate Brownian movement, place a drop of water on a microscope slide. Dip a dissecting needle into India ink and then touch the tip of the needle into the water drop. (India ink consists of small particles of carbon suspended in a fluid.) Add a coverslip and observe the slide with a high-power objective.
Briefly record your impressions of the movement of the particles. If you gently warm the slide over a light bulb, what effect does this have on the movement of the particles? How do you account for any changes in motion you observe after heating the slide?
Osmosis
The rate of water movement in osmosis can be observed with an osmometer (see figure below). A starch solution in the thistle funnel is separated from the water in the beaker by a dialysis membrane that allows water to pass through but is impermeable to starch. (The starch solution has had food coloring added to it so that you can track any movement of the solution in the thistle funnel.) What do you expect will happen over time in this type of setup?
Figure 1. A Simple Osmometer
Early in the lab, measure the height of the column of fluid in the thistle funnel. At intervals of about 20 minutes during the lab, repeat the measurement. Record the time and height of the fluid column in the table below.
Describe what is happening to both the starch and water molecules in the osmometer.
Over time do you expect that the rate of water movement will increase, decrease, or remain the same? Why?
Diffusion in a Solid
The solid we will use is agar, which forms a colloid (a gel-like matrix) when mixed with water, and is clear so you can see into it. Molecules can diffuse through the water-filled channels in the agar matrix. Your instructor may assign you to a group to carryout this experiment. Alternatively, your instructor may do this experiment as a demonstration and provide you with the data at the end of the lab period.
1. Obtain 6 agar plates for your group. Label one pair of plates 4oC, the second pair RT (for room temperature), and the third pair 37oC.
2. Take off the lids of the first pair of plates. Using a toothpick, place a small crystal of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) on the agar surface of one plate, and a similar amount of methyl orange on the agar surface of the second plate. Be careful not to poke a hole in the agar surface. Replace the lid on each plate.
3. Repeat step 2 for the remaining pairs of plates, taking care to use similar sized KMnO4 crystals and methyl orange on each pair of plates as used in step 2.
4. Place the 4oC plates in a refrigerator, leave the RT plates in a safe spot on your lab bench, and the 37oC plates in an incubator set for 37oC. Record the time you start the experiment.
5. After about 1.5 hours, collect each pair of plates and measure the size of the colored ring around each crystal in millimeters. Record the radius of each ring in the appropriate box in table 1 below. Record the time you make the measurements and calculate the time, in minutes, the plates were sitting.
Table 1.
6. Calculate the rate of diffusion for each molecule at each temperature using the procedure outlined below.
a. Convert the radius from millimeters the micrometers by multiplying the radius in millimeters by 1000.
b. Divide the resulting number by the number of minutes the plates were sitting. Record this result in the appropriate box of the following table.
Table 2. Rate of diffusion (µm/min.)
Use this data to answer the following questions.
1. The molecules of which substance diffused more rapidly?
2. The molecular weight of KMnO4 is 158 and the molecular weight of methyl orange is 327. What relationship is there between the molecular weight of the substance and the rate of diffusion?
3. What relationship is there between the rate of diffusion and temperature? What reason can you give to explain this relationship?
Diffusion in a Liquid
In this experiment we will be determining the rate of diffusion of KMnO4 in water at room temperature. We will then compare this rate with the rate of diffusion of KMnO4 in agar at the same temperature (from the table above).
1. Place some room temperature water in a glass Petri dish and place the Petri dish over a thin, flat metric ruler.
2. Using tweezers place a crystal of KMnO4 directly over one of the millimeter lines of the ruler and record the time.
3. After 10 minutes, measure the distance the color has moved. Record the final time, length of time and distance moved in the table below.
4. Calculate the rate of diffusion of the KMnO4 using the procedure described above and record it in table 3 below.
Table 3.
Transfer the appropriate data from table 2 above and use the data in table 3 to answer the following questions.
1. In which experiment is diffusion the fastest?
2. How can you explain this difference in speed?
Diffusion in a Gas
This experiment is an optional demonstration and will be done at the discretion of your instructor. It should be noted that the two chemicals involved have a real potential to be harmful and should be treated with extreme caution. The diagram below illustrates the experimental setup.
1. Remove the rubber stoppers from the end of the glass tube and simultaneously dip one of the cotton tipped applicator sticks into concentrated HCl and the other into concentrated NH4OH.
2. Simultaneously reinsert the stoppers into the glass tube.
3. Look for the formation of a white ring inside the tube. This is NH4Cl, a white salt formed when HCl and NH3 meet.
4. Measure the distance each gas traveled and record the results in table 4 below and use the data to answer the following questions.
Table 4.
1. The molecular weight of HCl is 36 and NH3 is 17. Which gas did (should) diffuse the fastest?
2. Calculate the following values: the ratio of the distances, the ratio of the molecular weights, and the ratio of the square roots of the molecular weights. Is the rate of diffusion directly or inversely proportional to the molecular weight or the square root of the molecular weight?
Diffusion and Cell Membranes – II
Objectives
1. Define the following terms: hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic.
2. To determine if osmosis and diffusion both occur through a selectively permeable membrane.
3. To observe the effects of hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic solutions on plant cells and animal cells.
4. Given any two solutions of differing osmotic potentials and separated by a selectively permeable membrane, state which solution is hypertonic and in which direction the net flow of water will occur.
Introduction
The term tonicity describes the relative concentration of solvent to solute in two solutions. A solution with the lower solute concentration is said to be hypotonic relative to the other solution. Conversely, the more concentrated solution is hypertonic relative to the first. If the solute concentrations of each solution are equal the solutions are isotonic with respect to each other. It is important to remember that these terms are relative terms, that is, the description of a solution as being hypertonic, hypotonic or isotonic depends on the solution it is being compared to. Traditionally, in biology, the cell is the frame of reference. An isotonic solution has the same solute concentration (and water concentration) as the cell; a hypertonic solution has a higher solute (and lower water) concentration than the cell; a hypotonic solution has a lower solute (and higher water) concentration than the cell.
If a cell in a hypotonic solution (low solute concentration) is enclosed in a rigid box, for example a plant cell surrounded by the rigid cell wall, the increasing water pressure inside the cell would cause water to flow back out of the cell towards the area of lower pressure. Eventually, equilibrium would be reached when the flow of water into the cell, due to the concentration differences, equals the flow of water out of the cell, caused by pressure differences. The pressure at equilibrium is called the osmotic pressure.
Since all cells contain molecules that cannot cross the plasma membrane, osmosis always occurs when cells are placed in dilute aqueous solutions. It is important, then, for cells to be able to regulate the flow of water into, and out of the cell, a process known as osmoregulation. In plant cells and bacterial cells, the cell wall prevents the cell from bursting by providing a rigid casing that helps regulate the osmotic pressure in the cell. In animals and many microorganisms, osmoregulatory organs or organelles are found. In animals the kidney adjusts the concentration of substances in the body fluids that bathe the cells. In microorganisms, like Paramecium, which live in freshwater, special organelles, called contractile vacuoles, accumulate and actively pump out water that flows into the cell by osmosis.
In this week’s lab you will model a semi-permeable membrane and investigate tonicity by looking at the behavior of different types of cells in hypotonic, hypertonic and isotonic solutions.
Diffusion Through a Selectively Permeable Membrane
The plasma membrane of a cell is selectively permeable because it allows the diffusion of some substances and not others. Small, uncharged molecules diffuse freely across the plasma membrane, but charged molecules and large molecules cannot cross the membrane. The dialysis membrane used in this experiment simulates the activity of the plasma membrane.
Procedure
1. Obtain a piece of dialysis tubing and make a tight knot in one end with thread.
2. Fill the bag with solution A, a simulated “liquid” meal containing 10% glucose, 1% starch, 0.5% egg albumin, and 1% sodium chloride.
3. Tie the top of the tube with thread while expelling as much air as possible. The bag should be limp (flaccid).
4. Rinse the outside of the dialysis tube with distilled water.
5. Place the dialysis tube in a culture dish and add enough solution B to cover it. Solution B contains 0.5% sodium sulfate dissolved in water. Let the dish stand undisturbed for about 1½ hours.
6. Based on the recipes for solutions A and B, fill in the “Before” columns of table 1. Use a + to represent the presence and a – to represent the absence of a substance.
Table 1.
7. After about 1½ hours, remove the dialysis tubing from the culture dish. Gently agitate the contents of the tubing and note any change in the tubing (Hint: is it more or less flaccid than when you started?)
8. Rinse the dialysis tubing with distilled water and carefully open the tubing. Empty the contents into a 100ml beaker. You can now test which ions and molecules crossed the membrane.
9. Obtain eight test tubes and prepare them as follows:
a. Into each of the first four test tubes, place 10 drops of the solution from inside the dialysis tubing. Label these I-1 to I-4.
b. Into the second set of four tubes, place 10 drops of the solution from outside the dialysis tubing. Label these O-1 to O-4.
10. Test for the presence of starch, albumin, glucose, sulfate ions, and chloride ions in the two sets of test tubes using the following test:
a. To the first test tube of each set, add 3 drops of IKI to test for starch. A blue-black color indicates a positive result.
b. To the second test tube of each set, add 1 drop of silver nitrate (AgNO3) to test for chloride ions. A white precipitate indicates a positive result.
c. To the third test tube of each set, add 3 drops of 1% barium chloride (BaCl2) to test for sulfate ions. A white precipitate indicates a positive result.
d. To test for the presence of glucose, dip a Clinistix into the fourth test tube of each set. Compare the results to the color chart on the side of the container.
e. To test for the presence of albumin, dip an Albustix into the fourth test tube of each set. Compare the results with the color chart on the side of the container.
11. Record your results in the “After” columns of table 1. Use a + to represent a positive test and a – to represent a negative test. Use these results to answer the following questions.
1. At the start of the exercise, which solution (A or B) was hypertonic compared to the other (that is, which had the higher concentration of solutes)?
2. Which solution gained water in the course of the exercise (A or B)?
3. Which of the substances (starch, chloride ions, sulfate ions, glucose, albumin, and water) were able to pass through the membrane (in either direction)?
4. Which substance(s) moved out through the membrane?
5. Which substance(s) moved in through the membrane?
6. Why did each substance move in the direction it did?
7. By what process did the substances move across the membrane?
8. Why did some substances fail to pass through the membrane?
9. Would you expect all of the molecules of a diffusible substance to move across the membrane? Why?
10. Which of the following statements best describes the situation at equilibrium if you let the system stand for a long time?
a. No molecules move across the membrane.
b. All molecules cross the membrane equally often in either direction.
c. Molecules to which the membrane is permeable cross equally often in either direction.
d. Only water molecules cross the membrane equally often in either direction.
e. Molecules to which the membrane is permeable move across the membrane from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration.
11. Did water move across the membrane? What is your evidence?
12. What is misleading about trying to equate the results of this exercise with how the cell membrane regulates passage of material?
13. Dialysis membrane is permeable to iodine (IKI). What result would you expect to see if you put IKI in solution B at the start of the exercise?
Osmosis and Tonicity—If set up…
As you discovered last week, osmosis (the diffusion of water) occurs whenever two solutions of different solute concentration are separated by a selectively permeable membrane. The difference in solute concentration between the two solutions determines both the direction and rate of water flow. Water always diffuses from a hypotonic solution to a hypertonic solution; consequently, a cell placed in a hypotonic solution will gain water and a cell placed in a hypertonic solution will lose water.
The next three experiments explore tonicity (the solute concentration of a solution) using potato strips, red blood cells and Elodea cells.
Osmosis and Tonicity—If set up…
As you discovered last week, osmosis (the diffusion of water) occurs whenever two solutions of different solute concentration are separated by a selectively permeable membrane. The difference in solute concentration between the two solutions determines both the direction and rate of water flow. Water always diffuses from a hypotonic solution to a hypertonic solution; consequently, a cell placed in a hypotonic solution will gain water and a cell placed in a hypertonic solution will lose water.
The next three experiments explore tonicity (the solute concentration of a solution) using potato strips, red blood cells and Elodea cells.
Procedure: Potato strips
1. Using the provided cork borer cut 6 tubes of potato, each approximately 3 cm in length. Use a razor blade to cut the tubes to length; remove any skin from the ends of the tubes.
2. Label five test tubes 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5. Place one potato tube to each test tube.
3. Fill the test tube labeled “0” with distilled water to cover the potato tube, and fill the remaining test tubes with sodium chloride solutions of the appropriate concentration to cover the potato tubes.
4. After at least 1 hour, observe the potato tubes for limpness (water loss) or stiffness (water gain) and answer the following questions.
1. In which tube(s) has the potato become limp? Why did the water diffuse out of the potato? How would you describe the relationship between the solution and the potato (use the correct scientific term)?
2. In which tube(s) has the potato become stiff? Why did the water diffuse into the potato? How would you describe the relationship between the solution and the potato (use the correct scientific term)?
3. Is there any tube(s) in which the potato appears to have neither gained nor lost water? How would you describe the relationship between the solution and the potato (use the correct scientific term)?
4. Based on these results, what is the approximate concentration of solutes in potato cells?