Question about the mass gain of Potato Cells

[Irving4Prez]

Will placing a potato cylinder in a 0.75 M sucrose solution result in a lower mass decrease in comparison to a 1 M sucrose solution?

[Yacoubb]

Will placing a potato cylinder in a 0.75 M sucrose solution result in a lower mass decrease in comparison to a 1 M sucrose solution?

The higher the solute concentration of the hypertonic solution, the more water molecules lost through Osmosis. Therefore, a potato cylinder in a 1 M sucrose solution will lose more water molecules through Osmosis than the potato cylinder in the 0.75 M sucrose solution. Answering your question, the answer is Yes

[Irving4Prez]

That question was based off a practical. Is it possible for potato tuber cells to have a high content of solutes? In such cases, what will happen if one places a cylinder of potato (high in salt) in a 0.5 M sucrose concentration?

[Yacoubb]

That question was based off a practical. Is it possible for potato tuber cells to have a high content of solutes? In such cases, what will happen if one places a cylinder of potato (high in salt) in a 0.5 M sucrose concentration?

Well if it were placed in a sucrose solution, water would still move out because the concentration of sucrose outside the cell > the concentration of sucrose within the cell, hence resulting in osmotic activity of water molecules. However, if we were say to inect a potato cylinder with saline (salt) and then place it into a hypotonic solution (perhaps distilled water), water would move into the cell as this distilled water would be considered a hypotonic solution - solute concentration lower than that of the substance immersed in it.

[Yacoubb]

Another point I'm trying to make is that you need to look at the concentration of the SAME solutes when looking at the behaviour of water molecules in Osmosis...

[Irving4Prez]

I just conducted the practical and oddly enough, the largest mass loss was the potato cylinder in the 0.50 M sucrose concentration. Is this due to the larger concentration gradient?

[Bad Student]

I'm not sure how to explain that. For the potato to decrease in mass, the concentration of sucrose inside the cell must be lower than 0.50M. However, if the concentration was lower than 0.50M, then there would be a greater loss of mass in the potato placed in the 0.75M and 1M solution.

[no steez]

What would happen if a potato peice was put in water or put in a sodium chloride solution?
thanks

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Water - increase mass, as potato salt conc. is higher than that of the water thus osmosis will occur and water will make the potato cells turgid.

NaCl solution - decrease mass. Higher conc. outside, thus the water within the potato will leave the cells and join the solution.

[xlaiyn]

We did this in class the other day. The hypotonic solution caused the potato cells to swell and gain a considerable amount of mass in comparison to the control-potato (lol), and vice versa for the hypertonic one.

A dumb question I have is, where the hell did "M" come from? Our solutions were also sucrose, with 0M being distiller water, 0.50M and 1M. Why M? Why sucrose? I could ask so many questions, oh Jesus.

[xlaiyn]

I'm aware of this: M -----> Molality = number of moles (solute) / Mass of solvent in Kg

But why M? Whyyyyyyyy. /questionsthathauntmyexistence

[Russ]

We did this in class the other day. The hypotonic solution caused the potato cells to swell and gain a considerable amount of mass in comparison to the control-potato (lol), and vice versa for the hypertonic one.

A dumb question I have is, where the hell did "M" come from? Our solutions were also sucrose, with 0M being distiller water, 0.50M and 1M. Why M? Why sucrose? I could ask so many questions, oh Jesus.

They're not dumb questions, they're actually very good questions. Just don't ask them in high school because high school education isn't about learning so much as it is about preparing you (for a variety of things). If you're actually interested in various weird things, you'll get to have fun with asking questions at uni if you go on to biochem or microbio. If you don't want to wait you can message me or others here I guess lol

[alondouek]

I'm aware of this: M -----> Molality = number of moles (solute) / Mass of solvent in Kg

But why M? Whyyyyyyyy. /questionsthathauntmyexistence

M is just a unit; molar concentration. If you're doing 1/2 chem, you should know the formula , where n= moles, c= concentration and v= volume.

The unit often used for 'c' is M - and it always refers to the concentration of solute in a solution.

So, 0M means there is no solute in the solution (which is kind of intuitive for distilled water).

Sucrose is used in this SAC because of the way it can travel across membranes, which forms the basis of physical change in a cell in hyper/iso/hypotonic conditions.

[ealam2]

I thought sucrose can't pass through the membrane by simple diffusion because of its large size.

[xlaiyn]

M is just a unit; molar concentration. If you're doing 1/2 chem, you should know the formula , where n= moles, c= concentration and v= volume.

The unit often used for 'c' is M - and it always refers to the concentration of solute in a solution.

So, 0M means there is no solute in the solution (which is kind of intuitive for distilled water).

Sucrose is used in this SAC because of the way it can travel across membranes, which forms the basis of physical change in a cell in hyper/iso/hypotonic conditions.

No no, I know what it means. But like. M. Why not another letter?