Osmosis Lab Results


The purpose of this lab was to have students observe movement of water in and out of potato cores.  Three cores of the same size were cut, measured for length and width, and massed.  These cores were placed in salt solutions of differing amounts:  0% to represent a hypotonic solution, 10% to represent an isotonic solution, and 20% to represent a hypertonic solution.  The core in the isotonic solution should have remained the same size, the core in the hypertonic solution should have shrunk, and the core in the hypotonic solution should have increased in size.  The result showed students which way water was moving and what the effects the three types of solutions had on cells.