lOMoARcPSD|56450245
BIO1140 Osmosis Lab
Introduction to Cell Biology (University of Ottawa)
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Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
, lOMoARcPSD|56450245
SimBio Virtual Labs®: OsmoBeaker®
Osmosis
Mixing Blood and Water: Osmosis and Cells
A patient is brought into the emergency room unconscious, with blood gushing
from a wound. Among the first things you must do is get fluid into her circulatory
system. If too much blood drains out, her veins could collapse. So, you stick a
needle into a large vein in her arm and hook up an intravenous (IV) system for
delivering fluids into veins. You're probably familiar with IVs from movies and TV
shows: they are the bags hanging from a metal pole with a tube running into the
patient. But what is in that bag? Is it just water, or does the water contain
something? If so, does it matter what else is in the water?
Later in the day, another patient comes into your clinic. He’s here to check his
intestine for polyps, a possible sign of colon cancer. But the intestines are
usually a bit obstructed with the remains of the last few meals. Therefore, you
gave the patient pills to take with lots of water the day before his exam. The pills
are made of small molecules that are indigestible and therefore will pass right
through the digestive system. This causes water to leak out into the intestine
and wash it out. It’s not very pleasant for the patient, but necessary to do the
exam. But why should some indigestible material cause water to exit his body?
These are two of many of possible examples that involve osmosis, a process by
which water moves across membranes in response to differences in the
concentration of other molecules dissolved in the water. In this lab, you'll take
advantage of a fictional invention from a fictional bio-engineering company
called Fictional Science, Incorporated. Their “Cell-O-Scope” simulator allows you
to create tiny “SimCells” made of a material that is similar to the membranes
that surround animal cells. The Cell-O-Scope lets you see molecules moving
around inside of the SimCells. By conducting experiments on SimCells and
making observations of how the SimCells respond to different extracellular
fluids, you will learn how osmosis works, and why it is an important property to
consider when designing IV fluids.
©2020-2022, SimBio. All Rights Reserved. 1
Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
, lOMoARcPSD|56450245
Concentration and Diffusion: A Brief Review
Before you begin this lab, it is important that the meaning of concentration and
the process of diffusion make sense to you.
Concentration
Concentration is the amount of a substance in a particular volume or space.
Concentration is a relative measure that can be expressed as a quantity of the
substance (the solute) per unit of volume of the solvent (usually water in
biology). The quantity of solutes is generally expressed as grams, or as moles.
One mole (symbol mol) corresponds to 6.02x1023 molecules of the solute.
Depending on the atom composition of the solute, one mole will have a different
weight (or mass), which is called molecular weight (for example, the molecular
weight of Glucose is 180.16 g/mol and that of Sodium Chloride NaCl is 58.44
g/mol).
The concentration standard unit is mole per litre or mol/L (or mol.L-1),
symbolized by M.
Other units are used for the concentration such as percentage (%), which is often
used in medical context. For instance, percentage (%) of weight per volume (w/v)
refers to a quantity of solute in grams per 100 ml of solvent (5% NaCl = 5g of
NaCl in 100ml of water). If the solute is a liquid, the % can be volume/volume
(v/v). In this case the solute is not weighed, but a certain volume of the solute is
measured and then water is added to complete to 100ml. Therefore, a 20% salt
solution contains twice as many salt molecules in any given volume (e.g., a liter)
than a 10% salt solution.
In this series of exercises, concentration is calculated as relative
concentration, which is the number of molecules of a solute divided by the
total number of molecules in each cell compartment (intracellular or
extracellular) and expressed as a percentage.
Diffusion
Diffusion is the movement of molecules from areas of higher concentration to
lower concentration. This lab explores osmosis, a special case of diffusion.
©2020-2022, SimBio. All Rights Reserved. 2
Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
BIO1140 Osmosis Lab
Introduction to Cell Biology (University of Ottawa)
Scan to open on Studocu
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
, lOMoARcPSD|56450245
SimBio Virtual Labs®: OsmoBeaker®
Osmosis
Mixing Blood and Water: Osmosis and Cells
A patient is brought into the emergency room unconscious, with blood gushing
from a wound. Among the first things you must do is get fluid into her circulatory
system. If too much blood drains out, her veins could collapse. So, you stick a
needle into a large vein in her arm and hook up an intravenous (IV) system for
delivering fluids into veins. You're probably familiar with IVs from movies and TV
shows: they are the bags hanging from a metal pole with a tube running into the
patient. But what is in that bag? Is it just water, or does the water contain
something? If so, does it matter what else is in the water?
Later in the day, another patient comes into your clinic. He’s here to check his
intestine for polyps, a possible sign of colon cancer. But the intestines are
usually a bit obstructed with the remains of the last few meals. Therefore, you
gave the patient pills to take with lots of water the day before his exam. The pills
are made of small molecules that are indigestible and therefore will pass right
through the digestive system. This causes water to leak out into the intestine
and wash it out. It’s not very pleasant for the patient, but necessary to do the
exam. But why should some indigestible material cause water to exit his body?
These are two of many of possible examples that involve osmosis, a process by
which water moves across membranes in response to differences in the
concentration of other molecules dissolved in the water. In this lab, you'll take
advantage of a fictional invention from a fictional bio-engineering company
called Fictional Science, Incorporated. Their “Cell-O-Scope” simulator allows you
to create tiny “SimCells” made of a material that is similar to the membranes
that surround animal cells. The Cell-O-Scope lets you see molecules moving
around inside of the SimCells. By conducting experiments on SimCells and
making observations of how the SimCells respond to different extracellular
fluids, you will learn how osmosis works, and why it is an important property to
consider when designing IV fluids.
©2020-2022, SimBio. All Rights Reserved. 1
Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
, lOMoARcPSD|56450245
Concentration and Diffusion: A Brief Review
Before you begin this lab, it is important that the meaning of concentration and
the process of diffusion make sense to you.
Concentration
Concentration is the amount of a substance in a particular volume or space.
Concentration is a relative measure that can be expressed as a quantity of the
substance (the solute) per unit of volume of the solvent (usually water in
biology). The quantity of solutes is generally expressed as grams, or as moles.
One mole (symbol mol) corresponds to 6.02x1023 molecules of the solute.
Depending on the atom composition of the solute, one mole will have a different
weight (or mass), which is called molecular weight (for example, the molecular
weight of Glucose is 180.16 g/mol and that of Sodium Chloride NaCl is 58.44
g/mol).
The concentration standard unit is mole per litre or mol/L (or mol.L-1),
symbolized by M.
Other units are used for the concentration such as percentage (%), which is often
used in medical context. For instance, percentage (%) of weight per volume (w/v)
refers to a quantity of solute in grams per 100 ml of solvent (5% NaCl = 5g of
NaCl in 100ml of water). If the solute is a liquid, the % can be volume/volume
(v/v). In this case the solute is not weighed, but a certain volume of the solute is
measured and then water is added to complete to 100ml. Therefore, a 20% salt
solution contains twice as many salt molecules in any given volume (e.g., a liter)
than a 10% salt solution.
In this series of exercises, concentration is calculated as relative
concentration, which is the number of molecules of a solute divided by the
total number of molecules in each cell compartment (intracellular or
extracellular) and expressed as a percentage.
Diffusion
Diffusion is the movement of molecules from areas of higher concentration to
lower concentration. This lab explores osmosis, a special case of diffusion.
©2020-2022, SimBio. All Rights Reserved. 2
Downloaded by Kelvin Mulimi ()
