Membrane Permeability: A Quantitative Approach

 

Todd Bennethum

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1993, Volume 14

Abstract

The processes of diffusion and osmosis are vitally important to all living organisms. Most general biology courses include laboratories studying these processes but few of them utilize a truly quantitative approach. This laboratory exercise allows students to use living cells (sheep erythrocytes and Elodea) to examine the processes of diffusion and osmosis and collect empirical data. Students then analyze this data to better understand the relationships involving a membrane’s permeability to various solutes.

Keywords:  osmosis, diffusion

University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1992)