Cell membrane and
transport-4
Demonstration of diffusion by using non-living materials such as
glucose and visking tubing
Practical Activity 4.1
• Visking tubing (also known as dialysis tubing) is a partially permeable,
non-living membrane made from cellulose.
• It possesses molecular-sized pores which are small enough to prevent
the passage of large molecules, such as starch and sucrose, but will
allow the passage of smaller molecules by diffusion, such as glucose.
Process
• This can be demonstrated by filling a length of Visking tubing (about
15cm) with a mixture of starch and glucose solutions.
• If the tubing is suspended in a boiling tube of water for a period of time,
the presence of starch and glucose outside the tubing can be tested for
at intervals to monitor whether diffusion out of the tubing has
occurred.
• The results should indicate that glucose, but not starch, diffuses out of
the tubing.
• This experiment can be made more quantitative.
• It would be interesting, for example, to try to estimate the
concentration of glucose at each time interval by setting up separate
tubes, one for each planned time interval, and using a semi-
quantitative Benedict’s test each time. A colorimeter would be useful
for this.
• Alternatively, a set of colour standards could be prepared.
• A graph could be drawn showing how the rate of diffusion changes
with the concentration gradient between the inside and outside of the
tubing.
• Further experiments could be designed if sucrose and an enzyme that
breaks down sucrose (sucrase) are added to the Visking tubing.
• Experiments involving amylase, which breaks down starch, could also
be designed.
Experimental process:
• Visking tubing is filled up by mixture of glucose (more amount) and starch
(less amount).
• Place visking tube in boiling tube with water.
• Go for following test:
Starch test Water from boiling tube + Starch drop No color change
Mixture in visking tube+ Starch drop Dark blue color
Demonstration diffusion using plant tissue
Practical Activity 4.2
• An experiment showing how the permeability of membranes is affected
by environmental factors such as chemicals and temperature can be
performed with beetroot.
• Pieces of beetroot can be placed into water at different temperatures or
into different alcohol concentrations.
• Any damage to the cell membranes results in the red pigment, which is
normally contained within the large central vacuole, leaking out of the
cells by diffusion.
• Changes in the colour of the surrounding solution can be monitored
qualitatively or quantitatively.
• As in the experiment in Box 4.1, a colorimeter or a set of colour
standards could be used.
• Alternatively you could simply put the tubes in order and make up a
colour scale (e.g. from 0 to 10), using water as 0 and the darkest solution
as 10.
• There is an opportunity to design your own experiment. What is being
observed is diffusion of the red dye from a region of high concentration
in the vacuoles to a region of low concentration in the solution outside
the pieces of beetroot.
• Diffusion is normally prevented by the partially permeable nature of the
cell membranes.
• After reading how molecules cross membranes, you may like to think
about how the dye gets into the vacuoles in the first place.
Investigating the effect of size on diffusion
Practical Activity 4.3
• The effect of size on diffusion can be investigated by timing the
diffusion of ions through blocks of agar of different sizes.
• Solid agar is prepared in suitable containers such as ice cube trays. If
the agar is made up with very dilute sodium hydroxide solution and
Universal Indicator, it will be coloured purple.
• Cubes of the required dimensions (for example, sides of 2cm × 2cm,
1cm × 1cm, 0.5cm × 0.5cm) can be cut from the agar, placed in a
container and covered with a diffusion solution such as dilute
hydrochloric acid.
• (The acid should have a higher molarity than the sodium hydroxide so
that its diffusion can be monitored by a change in colour of the
indicator. Alternatively, the agar can be made up with Universal
Indicator only, although its colour will be affected by the pH of the
water used.)
• Either the time taken for the acid to completely change the colour of the
indicator in the agar blocks, or the distance travelled into the block by the
acid in a given time (e.g. 5 minutes), can be measured. The times can be
converted to rates.
• Finally, the rate of diffusion (rate of colour change) can be plotted against
the surface area: volume ratio.
• Using the same techniques, you may be able to design further
experiments. For example, you could investigate the effect on the rate of
diffusion of the steepness of the concentration gradient.
