Calculating osmotic potential
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There was an experiment conducted to determine the osmotic potential of potato tissue.
The osmotic potential of various concentrations of sucrose solutions are provided in the table below.
Sucrose Concentration Osmotic Potential
0.0 M 0.0 MPa
0.1 M -0.245
0.2 M -0.49
0.3 M -.0.735
0.4 M -0.98
A cube of potato tissue was incubated for a set amount of time in various different sucrose solutions, and the weight of the potato tissue determined both before and after incubation. The weight difference shows the amount of water that is either gained or lost by the piece of potato.
The results were as follows
Before After
0.0 M 17.2 g 19.3 g
0.1M 15.7 g 16.9 g
0.2 M 16.5 g 17.5 g
0.3 M 15.7 g 15.9 g
0.5 M 16.7 g 16.7 g
Using this data and the table above, calculate the osmotic potential of potato tissue.
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Solution Summary
This solution describes a mock experiment to determine the osmotic potential of potato tissue. It takes you through the process needed to calculate the value from experimental data.
Solution Preview
The key to this problem is to determine the sucrose concentration where there was no weight gain from the potato sample, as this means there was no water transfer to the potato ...
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