Thursday, December 19, 2013

Yeast Cellular Communication

Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to see how growth signifies that cell communication occurs within a population during each stage of their cycle. We were able to see this growth as the populations multiplied over time


Introduction: Yeast is a unicellular organism. The cell of the yeast break down sugar into ethanol during alcoholic fermentation. It also can undergoes asexual and sexual reproduction. During sexual reproduction, the yeast cell change from single haploid cell to a gamete (sex) cell due to a certain chemical signal. There are two types of yeast cell: a-type and alpha type. Each type of cell secrete a mating factor that bind to the receptor on the other cell type. A factor would attach to alpha-type cell receptor. Alpha factor would attach to the a-type cell receptor. When the mating factors is attach to each of the cell, the two cells begin to fuse together to form a pear-shape gamete cell called shmoos. The two cells then finally come into contact to form a single cell that contain gene from a and alpha cell. When the condition is right, the cell will begin to divide during mitosis. The process that the yeast go through can be found in other cell. Yeast cell mate with each other. This is how yeast cell communicate with each other. Cell can communicate with each other by sending signaling molecule to the other cell which response to a particular signal. The cell response can be anything like mating or creating a new protein. Before signaling molecule can send signal to the cell, the signaling molecule have to bind to a receptor on the cell plasma membrane. When a signaling molecule bind to a receptor, like G protein-coupled receptor, it activate the receptor. The receptor then bind to G protein to activate it. This cause the GTP to displace GDP. G protein then diffuse across the cell to bind to the enzyme, causing it to activate. The activated enzyme then send a cellular response. Signaling molecule is then disassociate from the receptor. G protein then disassociate from the enzyme. GTP then turn into GDP. The cell is then able to reuse the G protein. Cellular communication then occur time after time like a cycle to produce many responses that are important to the cell.

Methods:

In this lab, we used 3 types of subcultures: a-type, α-type, and mixed, which contained the a-type and the α-type. We transferred a small amount of each yeast type to the water in the culture tube. We used toothpicks to transfer a clump of yeast 1 mm wide into the designated test tube. After each transfer we used a new test tube for the yeast. When we finished putting the yeast in the test tubes, we put 5 drops in the yeast suspension in the plates. After that we used new swabs when we were spreading the yeast suspension over a small area of the agar. We then counted the yeast cells by putting them in slides and looked at them under a microscope.

The three agar jars we used (alpha, A type, and mixed)

Scrapping off some yeast! Ew!
Mixing the yeast to the sterilized water!

Adding the yeast to the trays

Putting it on the slides

The microscope we used to see the slides

What the yeast cells should look like

Yeast growth (alpha type)!

So many yeast populations (mixed)! 

More yeast (a type)!

Data: 

Graph: 

Discussion: As time progressed, we saw that there was an increase in yeast growth. The yeast in our early trials began as single haploid cells and as time went by we were able to see developing double haploid cells and even some single zygotes. This is an interaction directly caused by cellular communication. Since the viles were not stored in incubators, this experiment was done solely at room temperature. As we can see by our graphs and our labeled pictures, all the types were increasing, but the biggest increase in yeast population was seen by the mixed culture. The heightened growth of this specific culture is caused by more (and different types of) yeasts which were able to give off more signals that let the other yeasts know they were present. As a result of this more yeast was produced. Our data is valid because as more yeast communicate with each other it more likely that reproduction will take place. This supported our hypothesis (yeast will increase in number over time) due to the results of the data and 2 graph. We believe our data for the 30 minute section could've been improved because our methods were not consistent. We only added broth to act as a mound for the Petri sample on our the second and third day. Therefore, our experiment could've been more accurate if only we used the broth and maybe did more trials that were closer apart (although our time was limited and was a constraint).

Conclusion: The expected result of an increase in cell population solidifies the fact that communication within the cells in the mixed Petri dish showed a substantially greater increase than the individual a type or alpha type dishes and greater communication occurs when there are various cultures present to send and receive cell signaling. Results could have varied to a massive increase in cell population should the vials have been chosen to be put in an incubator, as cells grow more rapidly in hotter temperatures as opposed to regular room temperature. We had earlier anticipated that the mixed sample would have the greatest increase in population due to it having two different cultures of yeast cells which is exactly what was shown in our graphs. This massive population in the mixed culture was probably on account of both a and alpha type cultures being ble to pruduce a higher level of communication and budding amongst themselves.


Friday, November 22, 2013

Chromatography/Cellular Respiration Lab

Chromotagraphy

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to see the separation of plant pigments using chromatography. We tested this to be able to calculate the Rf values. We also wanted to measure the separation of the colors which represented the different kind of chlorophyll which were present in the spinach leaf. 

Introduction: Chromatography is the technique of separating and identifying pigments that contain a mixture of molecules. Adhesion is when dissimilar molecules stick to each other. Cohesion is similar to adhesion in the sense that the same molecules stick to each other.  The higher the color, the more adhesive properties it has. Solvents goes up through capillary action through which it carries any substance dissolved in it. Present inside the spinach we tested were different types of chlorophyll that emerged when we submerged in the solvent.  Carotene protects it from ultra-violet rays. Chlorophyll A absorbs most energy from wavelengths of violet-blue and orange-red light. Chlorophyll B absorbs light energy and blue light. Xanthophylls are oxygenated carotenoids that are synthesized within the plastids.

Methods: In this lab, we took a 12 cm strip of filter paper and cut it to a point at the tip. We filled a graduated cylinder with 1 cm of solvent. We then had to cut a piece of the paper and mark a line 1.5 centimeters from the bottom. We took a portion of spinach and (using a coin) extracted spinach pigment by smearing it on the paper. The smeared spinach pigment was done above the 1.5 cm line making sure it was secured with a stopper. We then barley submerged the tip of the filter paper into the solvent, enough so that the point of the paper took in solvent but not enough so that the solvent wouldn't make contact with the smeared spinach pigment. We waited for half an hour and marked the location of the solvent front before it evaporated. We marked the bottom of each band measured the distance. 



Data:

Discussion: For the light green to the pale yellow pigment, there was a consistent rate of distance between each band. Band 1 came in at 45 cm, band 2 was a distance of 48 cm, band 3 was 63 cm, and band 4 was 65 cm. band 5 varied the most in distance, measuring almost equidistant to the combined distances of bands 1-4. Band 5 measured at 96 cm. Band 1 and 3 were identified as chlorophyll a. Band 2 was identified as chlorophyll b. Band 4 was identified as xanthrophyll and band 5 was carotene. There was reasoning for as to why the different colored bands  came in the order that they did. Because chlorophyll a and b and xanthophyll were located near the bottom of the filter paper, we can safely say that it's adhesive properties are weaker than the band of carotene that was located higher up the strip of paper. This means that chlorophyll a and b along with xanthophyll cannot grab onto other surfaces or substances as well as carotene. Xanthophyll specifically is also less soluble and is slowed down by hydrogen bonding to the paper strip. We can also infer that their cohesive properties that allow their similar molecules to stick to one another are likely also as weak as their poor cohesive abilities. The band measurements did come out to match the predicted results and band order than we'd initially assumed meaning that the experiment results were successfully accurate. The experimental procedure as a whole was mostly successful. 

Conclusion:This experiment tested the relationship of the distance moved by a pigment to the distance moved by the solvent which was referred to as Rf. We used this calculation to test our hypothesis which is supported by our data table. We found out that different pigments migrated at different rates due to cohesion  and adhesion ability. The ones that traveled higher up the paper had greater adhesion property (Chlorophyll A, B, and xanthrophyll). We could have improved the experiment by leaving the strip submerged longer so that we may see more bands appear and this would have given us more results to give added accuracy. Also, more trials could help us compare our results and make sure the trends are consistent. 

Cellular Respiration

Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to test to see if light and chloroplast are required for light reactions to occur. This allowed us to see the effects of light and light deprivation. 

Introduction: When light is absorbed by leaf pigments, electrons are boosted to a higher energy level. Then ATP is produced. For this to happen, there needs to be a reduction of NADP to NADPH. However, in this experiment, DPIP is used as a substitute for NADP (electron accepter). When light strikes the chloroplast, the electrons are excited and changes the DPIP from blue to colorless. Then, ATP and NADPH combine with CO2 into organic molecules (carbon fixation). 

Methods: While the spectrophotometer was warming up, we set up an incubation area with a water flask in front of a light and test tube rack. We were provided with 2 bottles: one with boiled and one with unboiled chloroplast which were kept in ice the whole time. Different additions of phosphate buffer and distilled water were added to each test tube. We also added DPIP to test tubes 2-5. We put cuvette 1 (the control group) into the spectrophotometer and calibrated the lab quest. This allowed us to have a comparison to the other cuvette. However, cuvette 2 was covered in foil to keep light out. We added 3 drops of chloroplast to test tubes1-4 and immediately took a transmittance reading from the spectrophotometer. Then we put them in the light behind the flask and recorded a new transmittance reading every 5 minutes for 20 minutes. Additionally, the second attempt at the experiment was meant to allow us to come up with a way to show a more steady increase in our graphical data instead of the spikes in data we had acquired in our first attempt. 


Data:



Attempt 1 Graph:

Attempt 2 Graph:


Discussion: Our control group for this experiment was our cuvette the that was unsoiled and exposed to light because this sample would be the only beaker that would record and show the normal light transmittance that a common chloroplast would have. (Cuvette 1 was used to calibrate our spectrophotometer, so it is not in our data table, meaning our data results would begin with cuvette 2). The trends we found in the second attempt were that cuvettes 1,2, and 4 increased in transmittance percentage as time went on and decreased in absorbance. However, cuvette 3 decreased in transmittance percentage as time went on and increased in absorbance. This shows that regardless of light transmittance increasing or decreasing, there was an inverse relation with the absorbance of light. One thing that we found inconsistent with the collected data was that cuvette 4, which contained no chloroplast at all, showed an increase then decrease in light transmittance and an increase then decrease in light absorbance. What is boggling about this is that, because this cuvette did not contain any chloroplast, there really shouldn't have been any absorbance or transmittance of any kind because there was no medium for it light to travel through. The first attempt was littered with errors. We calibrated correctly, but we added the chloroplast directly to the cuvettes instead of the test tubes. We also waited too long to put the cuvettes in front of the light causing a delayed reaction. All the cuvettes we're not put it together which didn't maximize the time they could've all spent behind the light. This limited time resulted in only being able to perform two trials whereas there should've been four. However, the one of the trials did not fulfill the required time. The second attempt was a lot more successful because we completed all four timed runs for the required 5 minutes each, added the chloroplast to the test tubes, and instead of adding the chloroplast directly into the four cuvettes, we added the chloroplast into the beaker so that the chloroplast would distill in with the other substances in its respectable beaker instead of possibly overpowering the solution before when the chloroplast was added directly into its cuvette. This proved successful because after we distilled the chloroplast into the beaker as opposed to adding straight to the cuvette, the graphical data increased steadily and did not spike. Our data did not support our hypothesis because cuvette 3 decreased then increased when it should've done the opposite. 

Conclusion: This experiment tested how chloroplasts in different situations absorb and transmits light.  By using the blank cuvette with water to calibrate the spectrophotometer, we were able to individually calculate the amount of transmittance in each cuvette. Since cuvette 2, unboiled and light (originally in test tube 3) acted as the control group, we were able to compare the others to that cuvette. By looking at our data tables, we were able to conclude that transmittance and absorbance acted as reciprocals to one another. As transmittance went up, absorbance went down and vice versa.  After attempt one, we realized we needed to decrease the amount of chloroplast used so the graph would not spike up.  As a result of this, in attempt two we put the chloroplast solution directly into the test tubes instead of the cuvettes. This made our results more accurate and helped prove our hypothesis.


Monday, November 18, 2013

Enzyme Catalyst Lab

Purpose:
The purpose of this lab to analyze how enzyme affects the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen gas. In other word, how does the enzyme affect the rate of hydrogen peroxide breaking down into water and oxygen. We wanted to test how much enzyme we need to really start affecting the solution to change. The independent variable was how much of the enzyme solution we put into the hydrogen peroxide solution. The dependent variable was how soon the hydrogen peroxide changed to pink/brown and how much enzyme is needed to do so.

Introduction:
This experiment is all about enzymes and how they react to different situations. So what exactly is an enzyme? An enzyme is a substance produced by a living organism that acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction. A catalyst is something that affects the rate at which the chemical reaction takes place. In this experiment, we will deal with enzyme-catalyzed reactions which means that the substance to be acted upon, the substrate represented in an equation as S, binds to an active site of the enzyme, represented as E. One advantage of enzyme-catalyzed reactions is that it makes the reaction require less activation energy so that products (P) of the reaction form. This is expressed with the following equation:
E + S -> ES -> E + P
It is important to know that each enzyme is specific for a particular reaction because of the amino acid sequence, which has an effect on its structure. Active sites in an enzyme interact with the substrate so that any substrate that changes the shape or blocks the active site will have a completely different purpose/shape than it did before. How can this happen? Well, salt concentration, pH, temperature, and activations & Inhibitors are four ways that enzyme activity can be affected. Depending on the amount of salt concentration, the proteins in the enzyme will denature and in turn become inactive such as with low concentration. On the other hand, concentrations that are too high will cause blockage. Denaturing of proteins also applies to pH and temperature. When the pH & temperature is too high or too low, it causes enzymes to become inactive, since most enzymes perform optimally at about neutral pH and temperature. Lastly, activations and inhibitors regulate how fast the enzyme acts.

In this lab, the enzyme used was catalase. It takes part in some of the many oxidation reactions that occur in cells, but the primary reaction catalyzed by catalase is decomposing H2O2 to form water and oxygen as shown in the following equation:
2 H2O2 -> 2 H2O + O2 (GAS)
Without catalase, a reaction would still in fact occur, but at an obviously slower rate. 

Methods: 
We started out this experiment by putting 10 ml of H2O2  into 7 separate beakers. Each beaker was labeled with a number ranging from 10 to 360 seconds (depending on how much time we would have to swirl it). Then, we added 1 ml of the catalyst. Now we actually got to "mix" the H2O2 by slightly swirling it. We also set a timer to keep track of how long we needed to mix it. Once the timer hit zero, we quickly added 10 ml of H2SO4. Then we put it under the burette and added one drop at a time of the KMnO4. We waited until the the mixture turned permanently pink/brown . This allowed us to see how well the catalyst and enzymes work and how it varies depending on the amount if time it has been in the H2O2 mixture.




Data:

Graph:


Discussion:
For the lab we filled out a chart with our results. The charts explain how long it took our base line. The intial reading was what the tube was filled at before we used it and the final reading was what it was after the reading. We took the base line and added the enzyme and kept on stirring for 10, 30, 60, 90, 180, and 360 seconds. After the time is down we would check and check how much KMnO4 it takes for it to give it a pinkish color. Our results are valid because we compared our results with the class and our data is very close to other groups. In the graph the blue line shows the H2O2 used and the red line shows the KMnO4 consumed.The longer we waited on the H2O2 the more of it was being used in the chemical process and the longer we waited on the KMnO4, less of it was being released because all the enzymes in the chemical reaction are being used.
Initially, we anticipated that, with more time passing between our addition of catalase into our solution of H2O2, the quicker we would be able to see a presence of color indicating the efficiency of the reacting enzyme that was catalase. This proved to be correct as our data began to show a decrease of used catalase from our burette as we began mixing it with our beakers that had been swirled with catalase for a longer period of time.
For example, the beaker that we added and swirled catalase with for a period a six minutes only required .5 mL of KMnO4 to be added until a pink coloration was seen to indicate a reaction whereas our beaker that was swirled for a shortened period of only 10 seconds required a larger quantity of KMnO4 to be added, a difference of 3 mL to our six minute beaker's .5 mL, in order for a pink color hue was seen in the solution. This showed that the more time that catalase was given with the H2O2 solution, the quicker a visual reaction would occur with KMnO4.
Additionally, our collected data showed an inverse relationship with the amount of KMnO4 consumed versus the amount of H2O2 used. Our data showed that when looking at the amount of KMnO4 used (here we are going to describe the amounts in terms of first, the beakers that had a shorter period of time to mix with catalase on to those who had longer time) began high at 3 mL for our 10 second beaker and then dropped down to a smaller amount of .5 mL used, as seen with our 6 minute beaker. However, the amount of H2O2 that was used in our 10 second beaker, the one which had used 3 mL of KMnO4, only .5 mL of H2O2 was used. This inverse relationship between KMnO4 and H2O2 became more evident as we observed the dropping amount of KMnO4 used in regards to the raising amount of H2O2 used as we increased the the time given for catalase to react with our beakers. The 6 minute beaker of H2O2 ended up using .5 mL of KMnO4 to a higher 3 mL of H2O2 used. These two beakers were our extremes and more clearly showed the contrast in use of the two kinds of solutions used in this lab.
We have to acknowledge that for some of our beakers, the time we spent swirling in catalase might have differed by some few seconds or so by either some means of loss of time or distraction of some kind and that may have altered results. For future tests, we should keep close attention to the time spent swirling the catalase with our various beakers for that specified time the lab calls for.

Conclusion: 
Once all data was accumulated from the previous procedure, the results showed an inverse relationship with the amount of KMnO4 consumed and the amount of H2O2 used. As the time that passed increased, KMnO4 increased from its initial 3mL down to a final .5 mL whereas H2O2 decreased from its initial .5mL up to 3mL. This shows that the increased time spent adding H2O2 lowered the amount of substrate needed to catalyze a reaction when in use of KMnO4. The trials exemplified the very aspect of how a present enzyme of catalase sped up the reaction of our KMnO4 solution. As the time increased where our catalase was mixed in with our solution supported the anticipated result that the presence of color in the initial colorless solution would occur more quickly, which shows that less KMnO4 is need as the amount of H2O2 is used. Because the addition of KMnO4 was done by hand, the precise amount of minimal substance that could be added until a color change was seen could be off by a, minute but still present, amount.







Cellular Respiration Lab

Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment was to see whether germination and temperature affect the amount of CO2 released. We were testing to see if germination on (barley) seeds would affect their cellular respiration process and eventually cause them to not produce CO2. The independent variable was whether or not the seeds were germinated and if the temperature changed. The dependent variable was how much CO2 was released. We wanted to see how much of a difference there would be between the four groups we tested out.

Introduction:

The lab we were about to conduct dealt with the process of cell respiration. Cell respiration is the series of metabolic processes by which living cells produce energy through the oxidation of organic substances. This conversion is done to benefit organisms because it converts chemical energy into a form that can be readily used. This is shown through the following equation:


C6H12O6  +  6O2 →  6CO2  +  6 H2O  +  Energy (ATP)
It is a fact that all animals and plants go through this process of oxidizing glucose for energy. Therefore, barley seeds with go through this process as well. We know that different variables may alter or affect carbon dioxide product during respiration (such as germination and temperature).
Methods:
For this lab, we would be performing the same practical procedure a multitude of four times, each with a different barley seed. We would begin with germinated barley seeds, twenty five of them that had been wrapped in moist paper towel for a period of time. Those seeds would then be blotted dry and the temperature of the room would be taken for comparison of a later trail that would compare the effect that temperature could have on the CO2 release of the seeds. With the room temperature recorded and the germinated seeds blotted dry, all twenty five would be placed into a carbon dioxide reading chamber which would then be connected with our LabQuest to graphically show the amount of CO2 being released from within the chamber. In order to get an accurate reading of the carbon dioxide being released from the germinated seeds, they would be left in the chamber to collect data for a minimum ten minutes. Once the time had passed and data for the graph on the LabQuest was present, the seeds were taken out and put into a beaker of cold water that had ice in it as well. Whilst the germinated seeds cooled in the cold beaker water, the CO2 probe that was taking carbon dioxide readings in the chamber was to be fanned with paper for a minute total and the chamber itself was washed out with water and then thoroughly dried with paper towels. Once the chamber was dried, we were ready to begin the alteration to our testing trials which would then provide us with data to see the effects that temperature has on the release of carbon dioxide from our seeds. The germinated seeds that we had put in the ice beaker would then be taken out and blotted dry with paper towel and then placed in the carbon chamber to begin collecting data on our LabQuest for ten minutes just as we had done before with the room temperature germinated seeds. The very same processes would be again repeated for our twenty five non germinated seeds as well as for our control group of glass beads, the only exception being that the glass beads would not be chilled in a beaker of cold water. The graph that we collected from all trials would be stored on our LabQuest and we would calculate the slope of the graph for each trial run for comparison. Once all the runs were completed we compiled the graphs together so that the differences between all of them would be visually easier to see.
Non-Germinated barley seeds

Germinated barley seeds


Testing for CO2 release


Checking temperature change

Data:
Graphs:



Discussion:
Our graphs show that for the non-germinated barley seeds, as time went on, the release of CO2  decreased. For the germinated seeds, as time went on, the release of CO2 increased. For the germinated seeds in cold water, as time went on, the release of CO2  decreased. The control group (glass beads) had no change in CO2 release, and it's slope was 0.
The data for germinated seeds in cold water was very similar to the non-germinated seeds and for both the release of CO2  decreased. However, the germinated seeds increased in the release of CO2  and the control group remained constant.
The amount of CO2 produced by the germinated seeds in cold water and the non-germinated seeds was about the same. This showed that both germination of the seeds and temperature change have an effect on the amount of  of CO2 released.
What we did well in this lab was that we had an accurate indication of both variables (germination and temperature change). However, what we did badly in this lab was that our control group data was not helpful. It was probably tampered with, so it's information is almost useless to compare to the other test groups.
The validity of our data is not very good. Our data was too low compared to other in the class who also did barley seeds. It was off by a good 0.12-0.24 ppm/s. It was double what we had. However, our data was at a reasonable range, so it wasn't completely off. Also, when compared to the average at room temperature Mr.Filipek gave us, our data wasn't too far off.
Going off what we talked in class, we thought that temperature and germination would affect the barley somehow. Obviously the groan shows that these variables do affect the amount of CO2 released, so we were able to support this hypothesis.


Conclusion:
The question we were trying to answer was does germination and temperature affect the amount of CO2 released?
Obviously they do affect the outcome, and our data supports it. For instance, the slopes between the germinated seeds in cold water and the non-germinated seeds were very similar. The amount of CO2 produced was also very similar between the two. Also, based on the control group (the glass beads) given to us, the germinated seeds at room temperature data was very close to that average.  
What we did wrong in the lab was that we messed up the outcome of the control group. We believe the glass beads test was tampered with, whether someone knocked it over or it was left out too long. If we were to do this experiment again, we would fix that part and do multiple trials to make sure the first trial was not faulty.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Diffusion Lab

Purpose:
1A- In part 1A, we tested to measure the diffusion of small molecules, glucose and starch to be more specific, through dialysis tubing, which is an example of a selectively permeable membrane. In this experiment, the only variable we would have control over would be in the amount of solution in the beaker and in the dialysis bag. We would not have control over the permeability of the bag, or how much solution would or wouldn't pass through. Then depending on significant color change, we would be able to detect the presence in substances different from what was originally in the two closed solutions at the beginning of the lab.
1B- The purpose of this lab is to use the dialysis tubing to the determine the relationship between the solute concentration (sucrose) and the water movement through the process of osmosis. In the lab, the control variable is only  the concentration of the solution in the dialysis bag and the  beaker. The percentage change in mass of the dialysis tube is depended on how long the dialysis tube have been sit  in the beaker. Over time, this will cause the dialysis tube to increase or decrease. In this lab we are trying to find out if the mass of the dialysis tube increase or decrease when it have been sit in the beaker for a period of time.
1C- the purpose of this lab to find out the water potential of potato cylinders. We used a potato to cut 5mm potato cylinders and weighed them. We then put them in a sucrose solution and let them sit over night. The next morning we took them out of the sucrose solution and weighed them again. We took the difference in weight and found the percentage of change.

Introduction:
1A-Diffusion occurs when a substance attempts to equalize. The concentration gradient that a substance will always follow in diffusion is the movement from a high concentration gradient to a low concentration gradient, until equilibrium occurs. For example, if a cell is placed into a solution that has a higher percentage of water in the solution than inside the cell, water will move into the cell until there is an equal percentage of water both inside and outside of the cell. But sometimes a membrane will only allow certain molecules to pass through it; this is called a, as the function states, selectively permeable membrane. In addition, a Benedict's test is used in testing for the presence of glucose. Should a strip change color when submerged into a solution, that would signify that a solution contains glucose within it. A cell membranes permeability is determined by pores in the membrane itself. Depending in the size of the pores in the membrane Denise which molecules can or can't pass through. If a molecule is larger than the openings of the pores in the membrane then it will not be able to pass through.
1B-The process of osmosis occur when water need to move from lower solute concentration to a higher solute. In simple term, when there is more stuff in or outside of the cell, water tend to move to the area that have more stuff. This process is very crucial to determine the balance of cell and it environment or the death of a cell. Osmosis consist of three different type of environments: isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic. In isotonic solution, the stuff outside the cell is equal to the stuff inside the cell. In the case of the animal cell, the cell under this condition is stable. Unlike animal cell, plant cell become shriveled and cause the plant to not standing upright.  In  hypertonic solution, there is more stuff outside than inside the cell. This would cause the water to leave the cell faster than it can enter into the cell. Both plant and animal cell under this condition will die. In the hypotonic solution, there is more stuff inside the cell than outside the cell. Water in this solution will enter the cell faster than it can leave the cell. The animal cell is unstable in this solution and eventually it will burst. With a lot of water rushing into the cell, the plant cell benefit from this solution in that the cell will become more turgid and the plant will stand upright. In this lab, we would expect the potato core to increase in mass under the hypertonic solution and decrease in mass under the hypotonic solution.
1C- Water potential is when a molecule with a lot of water give up water to its surroundings to try creating an equilibrium state. Water potential occurs becuase of two reasons, one reason is when the pressure raises the water potential and the relative concentration of the solute. The pressure rises because if water leaves the cell the the cell will shrink and if the water enters the cell the cell will explode.  

Methods:
1A-Diffusion occurs when a substance attempts to equalize. The concentration gradient that a substance will always follow in diffusion is the movement from a high concentration gradient to a low concentration gradient, until equilibrium occurs. For example, if a cell is placed into a solution that has a higher percentage of water in the solution than inside the cell, water will move into the cell until there is an equal percentage of water both inside and outside of the cell. But sometimes a membrane will only allow certain molecules to pass through it; this is called a, as the function states, selectively permeable membrane. In addition, a Benedict's test is used in testing for the presence of glucose. Should a strip change color when submerged into a solution, that would signify that a solution contains glucose within it.
1B- To set up the lab, the six dialysis tube need to be fill with six  solution of different concentration of sucrose. Before doing anything else, the initial mass of the tube need to be weighted. The dialysis tube then need to be place in a beaker that have the same concentration of sucrose. In the next step, the dialysis tube need to be sit in the beaker for 30 minute. After the dialysis tube have been sit for 30 minute, the dialysis tube need to be weight to see if there have been a change in mass of the dialysis tube.
1C- We started out by cutting long cylinders out of the potato with a cork borer. We did this twenty-four times to have 4 chunks for each solution. Then we weighed the mass of groups of four and recorded it, so that later we could see if any diffusion/change occurred. We put the groups of 4 into the sucrose solutions (ranging from distilled water to 1 M of sucrose) and covered them with plastic to prevent any evaporation. We let it sit for thirty minutes so that the sucrose could diffuse from the solution. After that, we took the potato chunks out and weighed them once more to see how much they changed. We recorded the weight change as well and calculated the percentage change. This let is see how much solution diffused in or out of the potato.

Data:
1A-
1B-
1C-


Graphs and Charts:
1B-

1C-


Discussion:
1A-For this part of the experiment, we only had to fill out a chart with whether or not glucose was present and the color of the solution. We were able to find out that after waiting 30 minutes for the diffusion to happen, glucose was present inside AND outside the bag. We tested this out by using Benedict's solution (which is very accurate). The validity of our results is also very high because we discussed as a class what the results for the chart we're supposed to be. Because of that, we compared out graph to what was up posed to be correct and found no inconsistencies with our data. We were also sure of this because our results also made sense; it was what we had predicted would happen. Because there was diffusion of glucose out of the bag, since the membrane was selectively permeable, it was only appropriate that the outside solution would test positive for glucose. We could always have more trials for more accurate results, but since it was easy to test, our results were accurate and fit our hypothesis. 


1B-The data stable showed that the more molarity the solution has, the more mass the bag gained. It was pretty constant throughout the experiment that this trend followed. The only outliers were the .2 M and the 1 M solutions. Both the data table and the graph show that these sections don't seem to fit because if the dramatic drop in weight. Also, it doesn't fit our hypothesis that they should gain, not loose, weight as the molarity increases. We think something might've gone wrong with those bags which is why we try to use the class data to compare its validity. Obviously our section brought the class average down, so we can't completely trust that part. However, we can look at other tables' outcomes and compare there. As we predicted, the more the molarity they had, the more it weighed. Even though our experiment came out a little bad, looking at others' results helped conclude that out hypothesis was correct. In the future, more trials of each part would obviously help since ours came out faulty. Also, more time is needed for the bags to be left in the solution for more diffusion to occur. 
1C-The data table shows that when there is 0 M (distilled water) to .2 M  of sucrose, the solution diffused into the potato cylinders. Once they were in .4 M to 1 M of sucrose solution, the potato cylinders diffused starch out to the solution. This is proven by the data because the percent change in mass is positive from 0-.2 M of sucrose and negative from .4-1 M of sucrose. This make sense because more concentration in the solution means more diffusion will have to occur to reach equilibrium. The data table shows that there is a consistent decrease in percent change in mass up until the .8-1 M of sucrose. It might just be a kink in the solution, but other than that the data is pretty accurate. The higher concentration the solution is, the more diffusion will occur to reach equilibrium. This supported our hypothesis that higher water potential want to go to lower water potential. We also know this data is valid because our percentages were very close to the class average. It would be more valid if we had more trials for each concentration of the sucrose solution and if we let the potato cylinders sit in the solutions a lot longer than thirty minutes. Overall, it was a successful experiment.



Conclusion
1A- in our experiment, the goal was to measure the diffusion going on between the starch solution in the dialysis tubing and the surrounding water.  As seen in our chart, after we tested each solution with a Benedict's test , the mix of iodine and distilled water entered the bag while the glucose/starch solution left the bag. We knew this because of the different colors it turned according to whether or not there was glucose present in each solution which there was at the end because some of the solution inside the bag left and was able to bypass the membrane. 
1B- In the experiment we concluded the higher the molarity of a substence the greater the osmosis. When plotting the points on our graph we found out that we had two points wrong compared to the class average. We believe they were wrong because we didnt let them sit in the water long enough. 
1C- We wanted to prove that water will move from an area of  higher water potential to one with lower water potential. Therefore, the lower the concentration of sucrose solution, the more it will diffuse into the potato cylinders. Our data supported this seeing as the percent change in mass is positive from 0-.2 M of sucrose and negative from .4-1 M of sucrose.

Onion Cell Plasmolysis (1E):

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to investigate what happen to onion cell is put in the hypotonic, isotonic, and hypertonic.

Hypotonic:



In a hypotonic solution, water enter the cell faster than it can leave. This is to the fact that there is more solute inside the cell than outside the cell. Because to this, the size of the cell expand. In an animal cell, the cell would explode. Since this is the onion cell, the onion would become turgid and tough. Hypotonic solution is most suitable to plant like onion.

Isotonic:




In this solution, the amount of water that enter and leave the cell is equal. Because there is no excessive in water entering the cell, the onion cell actually wilt. This mean that the onion is not as turgid as the cell in the hypotonic solution.


Hypertonic :



In this solution, the water leave the cell faster than it can enter the cell. This happen because there is more solute outside the cell than inside the cell. Through the process of osmosis, the water leave the cell. The hypertonic solution is not very suitable for the onion cell. Because so much water is leaving cell, the onion cell significantly shrink in size that there isn't much content left in the cell and the cell die.