carry out the following osmosis experiment 1 4 peel potato half and scoop each one out to make for potato cups one of these potato cups should be made from a boiled potato put each static up in a ball containing water now put oneteaspoon sugar in cup b put one teaspoon salt in cup c put one teaspoon sugar in the boiled potato cup d
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(i) Water gathers in the hollowed portion of B and C because of the process of endosmosis (moving in of the solvent). A potato is made up of several cells, and the cell membranes are selectively permeable. As the cups B and C are filled with sugar and salt respectively and their outer part is in contact with the water, the concentration of water outside the cups is higher than inside the cups, so water moves from its higher concentration towards the lower concentration, i.e., inside the cup.
(ii) Potato A acts as a control of the experiment. It is very necessary for comparing the results of the experiment and shows that if the conc. of water is the same on both sides, there will be no movement of water.
(iii) Water does not gather in the hollowed-out portions of A as it does not contain a hypertonic solution so there is no concentration difference. Water does not gather in the cup D as the cells of boiled potato are dead and hence no osmosis occurs.