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Osmosis in Potato Tubers

Andrew Dickson

Background
When a plant cell is bathed in a solution of the same concentration (isotonic) as its intracellular environment, its mass and volume remain the same. This is because water enters and leaves the cells at the same rate. There is no net loss or gain of water by osmosis.
Samples of cells can be placed in a range of solutions of different concentration. The cells will gain water by osmosis when placed in solutions which are more dilute (hypotonic) than the intracellular environment. They will therefore gain mass. The cells will lose water in those solutions that are more concentrated (hypertonic) than the intracellular environment and so lose mass. The concentration of the intracellular environment of the cell can be determined by placing a sample of cells in solutions of different concentrations and determining at which concentration the cells neither gain nor lose mass. This external solution will have the same concentration......

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Approximate Word Count: 1170
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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