BIOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

OSMOSIS

This demonstration was shown for class IX students online during Google Meet

AIM : To study the process of osmosis using potatoes

MATERIALS : Boiled potato, Unboiled potato, knife, peeler, table salt, water

PROCEDURE : 
1. Cut one boiled and one unboiled potato in two equal halves.               
2. Remove 1 cm strip from the base of each one half.
3. make a small hollow on the broader side of each potato half using a peeler.
4. pour equal amount of water in two petri dishes.
5. Dip the base of each potato half in the two petri dishes.
6. Put a half teaspoon of table salt in the hollow of each potato half in the petridish.
7.Leave the two samples for two hours.
8. After two hours observe the two samples carefully.

OBSERVATION
No water is found in boiled potato, while in unboiled potato the hollow is filled with water.

EXPLANATION

Osmosis is the process in which solvent molecules moves through a semi-permeable membrane from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration until the amount of fluid is equalised on both sides of the semipermeable membrane.  

Importance of Osmosis

Osmosis plays a critical role in plant and animal cells.  It helps in the distribution of nutrients and in the release of waste products. The living cells of both plant and animals are surrounded by a semipermeable membrane known as the cell membrane. The membrane forms a selective barrier between the cell and its environment and does not allow toxic substances from the surroundings to enter into the cell. The selective permeability allows the cell to regulate the flow of necessary substances into and out of the cell. In plants osmosis is also responsible for absorbing water and minerals from the soil by using the semipermeable membrane of the root.