Exploring the Effect of Solute Concentration on Rate of Diffusion

Abstract

Experimental variables explaining possible causes for varying diffusion rates include: differences in membrane structure, concentrations of inner and outer solutions, and molecule size. Our group hypothesized that more concentrated solutions of NaCl will diffuse faster into a hypotonic solution than less concentrated solutions because more ions per unit of volume will be available to interact with the membrane. If our hypothesis is supported, we predict that the solution with the highest concentration will diffuse the fastest and induce the highest conductivity measure. To test this, we tested multiple concentrations of the inner solution (1%, 2.5%, and 5% weight per volume), averaged the results for each solution, and compared the results. This is important because this information will be useful in artificial cell production.