1 . Create a hypertonic solution by dissolving 5 grams of salt in 100 ml of water.
2. Create a hypotonic solution by adding 100 ml of water to an empty container.
3. Cut two 5 mm-thick slices from the potato.
4. Place one potato slice in the hypertonic solution and one potato slice in the hypotonic solution.
5. Allow the potato slices to remain in their respective solutions for at least 20 minutes.
6. Cut another 5 mm-thick slice from the potato, then remove the potato slices from the two solutions.
7. Compare the flexibility of the three slices. The potato slice that was in the hypertonic solution will be the most rigid, because it lost water to the surrounding solution.
Osmosis is the process by which water moves from a region of low solute concentration (hypotonic solution) to a region of high solute concentration (hypertonic solution) through a semipermeable membrane.
The membrane allows water molecules to pass through, but not solute molecules.
The procedure in the image involves using potato slices to demonstrate osmosis.
The potato slices are placed in two different solutions: one with a higher concentration of salt (hypertonic solution) and one with a lower concentration of salt (hypotonic solution).
The potato slices in the hypertonic solution will lose water to the surrounding solution, and the potato slices in the hypotonic solution will gain water from the surrounding solution.
The hypertonic solution, created by dissolving 5 grams of salt in 100 ml of water, has a higher solute concentration than the potato cells.
As a result, water diffuses out of the potato cells into the hypertonic solution, causing the cells to lose water and become plasmolyzed.
This loss of water results in a decrease in cell turgor pressure and makes the potato slice more rigid.
Conversely, the hypotonic solution, created by adding 100 ml of water to an empty container, has a lower solute concentration than the potato cells.
Water moves into the potato cells through osmosis, causing the cells to gain water and become turgid.
This influx of water increases the cell turgor pressure, making the potato slice less rigid compared to its original state.
The potato slice cut last and not exposed to either solution serves as a control.
It should be intermediate in rigidity because it has not experienced the osmotic changes induced by the hypertonic or hypotonic solutions.