1

Laboratory 22

The Force: Diffusion and Osmosis

Water Movement in Plants and Soil
Water flows downhill. Except in plants. Then water manages to flow up from the soil through the roots to
the stems to the leaves, often without any pump at all.

I. The Force: Diffusion and Osmosis

Introduction
Kinetic Theory: Matter behaves as if its molecules are in constant motion. The rate of movement
increases with increased temperature.
Molecules of a gas have no intrinsic bounds to their movement.
Molecules of a liquid move relative to one another but do not escape the liquid surface.
Molecules of a solid hardly move relative to one another.
A non-obvious result of the kinetic nature of matter is the tendency of all materials in a liquid or gaseous
condition to spread out from where they are concentrated to where they are sparse. This phenomenon is
known as:
Diffusion: The net movement of a material from an area of high chemical potential to an area of lower
chemical potential caused by the intrinsic movement of its molecules. Every material diffuses according
to differences in its own chemical potential, independently of the diffusion of other materials.
The soluble food that accumulates in high concentration around a chloroplast will diffuse to a
mitochondrion that uses up the food, simply because of the concentration difference.
In the case of cells or organelles bounded by membranes, diffusion takes on a special character. The
membrane prevents diffusion of most dissolved solutes (material dissolved in solvent such as sugars in
cytoplasm) but the smaller molecules of water (the solvent) can seep through. In other words, biological
membranes are differentially permeable. The result is:
Osmosis: The diffusion of water through a differentially permeable membrane. Osmosis turns out to
have remarkable effects on cells. Plant physiologists pay a lot of attention to three phenomena that result
from osmosis:
Turgidity: The internal pressure of a cell produced primarily by the osmotic uptake of water. A turgid
cell is a full and firm cell. Any plant cell with a good supply of fresh water is turgid.
Wilting: Visible collapse of plant parts caused by loss of turgidity. Initially reversible, but permanent if
the following occurs.
Plasmolysis: The pulling away of the plasma membrane from the cell wall caused when water loss is so
great that the cell contents cannot fill the cell. Plasmolysis invariably results in death of the cell.
Water Potential: The tendency of water to diffuse. Since temperature, concentration, and pressure all
influence the diffusion of water, it has been customary to quantify the overall diffusion status of water in a
particular place, such as the air, the soil, or different parts of the plant.
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 Temperature: The higher the temperature, the more

rapid the molecular movement and the greater the Table 8-1. Molarity and Solute
tendency to diffuse. Potential
Solute
 Concentration: The greater the concentration of water Molarity
Potential
the greater the tendency to diffuse. Note that pure (mol dm-3)
water is 100% concentrated, and has a high water (MPa)
potential. A concentrated solution of salts or sugars 0.1 -.26
has a lower proportion of water and therefore a lower 0.2 -.54
water potential (see Table 8-1). The influence of 0.3 -.86
solutes on water potential is quantified as solute
potential. 0.4 -1.12
0.5 -1.45
 Pressure: The higher the pressure the greater the
molecular motion and greater the tendency of water to 0.6 -1.80
diffuse. 0.7 -2.18
For years, botany students and professors have been 0.8 -2.58
confused by water potential. Perhaps we should blame the 0.9 -3.00
physicists. The scale used to express water potential 1.0 -3.50
essentially runs downward from zero! The units of
measurement are usually megapascals (MPa).
A water potential of zero is defined by the water potential of distilled water at room temperature at
standard sea level atmospheric pressure.
Completely humid room-temperature air also a water potential of zero.
Water potential is decreased by
solutes
low temperature
low pressure
absence of water.
Each of the above lowers water potential to increasingly negative values.
The force represented by a difference of one MPa is equal to 10 atmospheres or about 147
pounds/square inch.
Osmosis only occurs in living cells because when a cell dies its membranes immediately become more
permeable and soon break down completely. Nevertheless, nonliving material often gains and loses
water in response to differences in water potential. The cellulose and lignin in cell walls has a chemical
attraction for water, and so do concentrations of protein. The uptake of water that results is called
imbibition.

Exercises
A. Diffusion in Physical Systems
1. Demonstration: Simple Diffusion of Gas into Gas and Influence of Molecular Weight on the
Rate of Diffusion
In this demonstration two gases will be released at the ends of a large enclosed tube. The gases are
selected because they react visibly if they come in contact. Sorry to disappoint you, but instead of an
explosion or at least a flash of light, the reaction merely has the appearance of smoke.
Ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) is introduced at one end of the tube. This compound releases
ammonia gas (NH3).
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Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is introduced at the other end of the tube. This evaporates directly as
hydrogen chloride gas (HCl).
Preparation:
Use the atomic weight values given to compute the molecular weights of ammonia and hydrogen
chloride, and enter them at Q1 on the answer sheet.
Based on the relative weights of the two molecules, make a prediction about where the disk of smoke
will appear and draw it on the diagram at Q1.
Follow-up:
After the ring has developed, measure the distances that the two gases traveled and enter them at
Q2 on the answer sheet. Answer Q3 on the answer sheet.
2. Simple Diffusion of Liquid into Liquid
The reagents used here are:
Reagent A: alcoholic sodium hydroxide, an alkaline (basic) solution.
Reagent B: water containing a phenolphthalein indicator. Phenolphthalein is red in a basic solution.
Note that the beginning solution is colorless.
Procedure:
Fill a test tube one-fourth full using reagent A.
Gently add an equal volume of reagent B over the top of reagent A to minimize mixing.
Set the test tube in the rack and don't move it for the rest of the experiment.
A pink band indicates the zone where the two solutions have mixed. Measure the thickness in mm of the
pink band and enter the value at Q4 on the answer sheet.
Note the time and enter it at Q4 as well.
Observe the experiment several times during the laboratory, noting the spread of the color. Enter the
final thickness of the pink band and the ending time at Q4.
Empty the test tubes down the sink and follow with plenty of cold tap water to dilute the base.
Complete Q5 and Q6 on the answer sheet.
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3. The Mechanics of Osmosis

Figure 8-1 on the next page represents a cell that has been immersed in water.
Each triangle stands for a large number of water molecules.
Each gray hexagon represents an equivalent number of solute molecules
Note that the water outside the cell is pure. One might say it is 100% water. Of course the liquid inside
the cell is far less than 100% water. Many different kinds of solutes reduce its purity: sugars, amino
acids, nucleotides, etc.
Precisely draw a 2 X 5 cm rectangle in the region outside the cell, and an identical 2 X 5 cm rectangle
inside the cell. Enter the count of triangles in each rectangle at Q7 on the answer sheet. If a triangle is
on the line, count it if you consider it to be more than half in.
Use your counts to predict the direction of osmosis, given the following natural rules:
 Both water and solute molecules can seep through the cell wall (gray band in diagram).
 Solute molecules cannot cross the cell membrane that lines the inner edge of the cell wall.
 Water moves in both directions across the cell membrane.
 The net movement of water across the membrane (osmosis) is determined by the difference in
water concentration inside and outside.
 The cell wall is somewhat elastic, but the volume of the cell will hardly change as a result of the
water exchange.
Complete Q8 and Q9 on the answer sheet.
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Figure 8-1. Cell Just Immersed in Pure Water.

Initial Water potential outside cell 0 MPa
Conditions Solute potential inside cell -1.5 MPa
Wall pressure 0 MPa
Water potential inside cell -1.5 MPa
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Figure 8-2 is a model of same cell as Figure 8-1, but after osmosis has produced an equilibrium (steady
state balance).
Precisely draw a 2 X 5 cm rectangle inside the cell, count the triangles, and enter the count at Q10 on the
answer sheet. There is no need to re-count the water concentration outside, for the loss to diffusion into
the cell is not likely to be significant. Of course, you can if you want to.

Figure 8-2. Cell at Equilibrium with Pure Water.

Final Water potential outside cell 0 MPa
Equilibrium Solute potential inside cell -1.5 MPa
Wall pressure 1.5 MPa
Water potential inside cell 0 MPa
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4. Demonstration of Actual Osmosis

Observe the three osmometers.
 In all cases, the tube contains a high concentration of solutes (sucrose) and the water in the
beaker is distilled water (no solutes).
 The dialysis tubing covering the lower opening is a differentially permeable membrane separating
the syrup from the distilled water.
 Water molecules can cross the membrane but larger sugar molecules cannot. Any syrup
observed seeping out represents a problem with the setup.
The osmometers are set up as follows:
(1) Full-strength syrup and distilled water at room temperature
(2) Full-strength syrup and distilled water in an ice bath
(3) Full-strength syrup and distilled water in a heated water bath
The four people at the end of the lab bench closest to each osmometer are responsible for
starting the experiment:
1. Use care in the following operations, for the glass tube (thistle tube) is fragile.
2. Use a dry paper towel to remove any prior wax pencil marks.
3. While supporting the arm that holds the osmometer, carefully loosen the bolt on the stand and
lower the osmometer so that the membrane is in the water.
4. Allow at least a full minute for the setup to reach temperature equilibrium.
5. Use a wax pencil to mark the liquid level in the tube. If the top of the liquid is actually below
where the tube meets the expanded base, inform the professor.
6. Write the starting time on the blackboard and make a lab-wide announcement that your part of
the experiment has begun.
Overflow avoidance: Keep careful track of the progress of the liquid movement for your tube. If the
syrup level approaches the top of the tube, make a second mark at the liquid level, raise the
osmometer out of the water, note the ending time on the blackboard, and make a lab-wide
announcement that your part of the experiment has been terminated.
Once the experiment has been running for a while, each individual in the lab should visit each of the
osmometers. Note the time, measure the difference between the initial mark and the present liquid level
in each osmometer, record your observations at Q11 on the answer sheet, and complete the calculations.
Answer Q12 through Q15.
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B. Diffusion and Osmosis in Plants

1. Turgidity
a. Potato Pieces
Perform this experiment in groups of four.
1. Cut seven small plugs of potato that are equal in size.
2. Place one into each in the range of sugar solutions that is provided.
3. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
4. Observe the floating behavior of the plugs. Enter your observations at Q16 on the answer sheet.
5. Remove the plugs and compare their flexibility. Add those observations at Q16.
Answer Q17 on the answer sheet.
b. Celery Again
Long before the lab started, matched celery stalks were placed in pure water and in salt water. What
would you expect to happen? Observe the demonstration and answer Q18 on the answer sheet.
2. Plasmolysis
Repeat the experiment used in laboratory 3 to detect the cell membrane by inducing plasmolysis.
Working together with a partner, each make a wet mounts of an Elodea leaves on a clean microscope
slide. One should do the mount in a drop of water, and other in a drop of 10% salt solution. Compare the
appearance of the cells. Do Q19 and Q20 on the answer sheet.
3. Imbibition
Observe the two blocks of wood. These were the same size before one was soaked in water. Compare
the sizes of the two blocks now. Answer Q21 and Q22 on the answer sheet.

II. Water Movement in Plants and Soil

Introduction
If you were interested in designing a system to dry out wet ground, a typical vascular plant would not be a
bad place to look for ideas. In fact, in Buena Vista Marsh in the southern part of the county, willow trees
have been planted specifically to remove water from wet areas and make agriculture possible.
As we have seen in previous laboratories, a vascular plant combines
 a branching and rebranching root system for gathering water (and minerals);
 a strong stem with highly specialized water and mineral conducting channels; and
 an enormous evaporating surface.
One thing seems to be missing though: a pump to push the water through the otherwise remarkable
system. As demonstrations in this laboratory should show, there is such a pump (root pressure). As
other material will demonstrate, however, much of the time the pump isn't even working, but water is
moving through the plant just the same.
Transpiration
Under most conditions, the uptake and loss of water by plants is by the process of transpiration. The
force that moves the water is simply the difference in water potential from the soil to the root to the leaves
to the air (see Figure 20-1). As mentioned before, fresh water at room temperature has a water potential
of zero. Soil, air, or tissues almost always have negative water potentials, either from lack of water or
presence of solutes. The difference in water potential between wet soil and the air on a sunny summer
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day can be well over 100 MPa or almost 15,000 pounds/square inch: plenty of force to move water to the
top of the tallest trees. What is a little harder to believe is that the entire water column from the roots
through the stem to the leaves is pulled through the xylem cells by these water potential differences.

Figure 8-1. Water Potential and Transpiration (after Jensen, W. A. and

Salisbury, F. B. 1984. Botany, p. 275).
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Guttation
Many, but not all, vascular plants have a second way of moving water: guttation.
Table 8-2, on demonstration, summarizes some of the contrasts between transpiration and guttation. In
guttation, water is pushed through the plant by actual physical pressure generated in the interior of the
root. The pathway of water is the same, except in the leaf. Water loss in guttation is in the form of liquid
water extruded out onto the leaf surface where veins terminate in hydathodes. A tight cluster of
stomates may indicate the location of a hydathode on a leaf surface.
During guttation:
 Root pressure is produced when active transport of minerals across the endodermis lowers the
solute potential of the interior of the root (stele).
 The added minerals lower the water potential of the stele (see above).
 Removal of minerals raises the water potential of the cortex outside the endodermis.
 Water diffuses into the stele and produces pressure.
 The pressure pushes water up through the xylem.

Exercises
A. Calculating Transpiration Force
Use the information in the diagram below to construct a chart of the force that produces transpiration.
Enter your numbers at Q23 on the answer sheet and do the calculations in Q24 through Q26.
B. The Pathway
Your calculations in part A should produce a convincing amount of force for moving water from soil to air.
There are limits, however, to how effectively that force can be applied. Although water enclosed in a tube
"sticks together" better than you might think, there is a limit to how much tension a water column can
sustain before it snaps (cavitation). The smaller the enclosing tube, the more tension a water column
can withstand before cavitation occurs.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that a tree whose xylem consists mostly of small-diameter tracheids
such as a typical conifer can transpire water to a greater height than a tree whose xylem consists mostly
of larger diameter vessel elements like most hardwoods.
Procedure. Observe under a microscope a cross (transverse) section of the wood of a pine stem and
that of an oak stem. At the same magnification, use the eyepiece micrometer to measure the diameter of
the largest water conducting cells in each kind of wood . The cells are tracheids in the pine and vessel
elements in the oak. enter your results at Q27 on the answer sheet, and answer questions Q28 and
Q29.
Relate your results to the fact that the largest conifers include ponderosa pine, 232 feet, sugar pine, 246
feet, and coastal redwood, 367 feet. The largest oaks include bur oak, 170 feet, white oak, 150 feet, and
red oak, 150 feet. Answer Q30 on the answer sheet.
C. Conditions Favoring Transpiration
The flood lamp shining on the rubber plant provides a simulation of the sun's radiation. Electric
thermometer probes have been placed as described in the data table at Q31 on the answer sheet.
Procedure.
(1) Turn on the electric thermometer and record each temperature in the table at Q31.
(2) Go through the following reasoning to figure out which leaf surface is subject to the greatest
evaporation stress:
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(a) The air surrounding the leaf has about the same water content (at least until the plant
transpiration adds additional vapor).
(b) At a particular water content, the water potential of air is much more negative at high
temperatures.
(c) Therefore, the higher the temperature, the greater the evaporation stress.
Answer Q32 on the answer sheet.
D. Conditions for Guttation
Note the tomato plants under the bell jars. Unlike the room air, the atmosphere in the bell jars is
saturated with water vapor. Answer Q33 and Q34 on the answer sheet.
Look closely at the leaves of the plants under the bell jars for signs of water emerging on the surface at
the hydathodes by guttation. Look at the microscope slide on demonstration to see the physical structure
of a hydathode, remembering that it is essentially the end of a leaf vein. Focus up and down to
E. Transpiration Estimation
Water is moving up through the xylem most of the time, but evidence of its passage is quite subtle. Since
water is so heavy, a widely used method of measuring transpiration is by periodic weighting of potted
plants. One can assume that changes in water weight are responsible for most of the change, and the
error introduced by plant growth is not large.
A diffusive resistance meter estimates stomate opening by keeping track of water vapor accumulation in
a chamber appressed to a part of a leaf. Such an instrument is on display.
1. Comparative Measurement with Cobalt Chloride Disks
Cobalt chloride impregnated disks can be used as a really cheap, really crude substitute for the diffusive
resistance meter. The disks remain blue as long as they are dry. Exposure to water vapor turns them
pale pink or white. By taping such disks to a leaf and timing the color change, one can make crude
comparative estimates of rates of water loss.
Procedure:
Use the same type of plant from which you obtained epidermal peels in the leaf lab (corn or bean).
1. Use forceps to remove a disk from the container. Be sure to close the disk container immediately
to avoid contamination by water vapor from the air.
2. Fully moisturize the disk by breathing on it, and use it as a color reference in step 5.
3. Working rapidly but carefully, and avoiding extensive finger contact, remove two more disks from
the container and apply them near the ends of a 5 cm strip of Scotch tape:
4. Immediately
affix the tape
and disks to a
plant leaf in
such a way that
one disk is in
contact with the
upper leaf
surface, and
one is in contact
with the lower
leaf surface.
5. Record in the
table at Q35 on Figure 8-2. Transpiration Estimation with Cobalt Chloride Disks.
the answer
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sheet the time required for each disk to change color. A quick change indicates open stomates
and transpiration of water from the plant. A slow change means either closed stomates or no
stomates on that surface.
6. Remove tape and disk from leaf when experiment has been completed.
F. Drought Adaptations (Demonstration)
1. Drought Deciduousness
Plants that are native to climates with a notable dry season are sometimes drought deciduous. They lose
their leaves in response to drought, then leaf out again when moisture conditions are good. Our native
deciduous trees show a similar modification to avoid winter cold. Less obviously, they are also avoiding
potential water problems. What could those problems be? Answer Q36 on the answer sheet.
2. Stem Succulents
Everyone is familiar with the succulent (water-storing) stems of a cactus. Not so familiar are stem-
succulents from African and Asian deserts, where the cactus family does not occur. Species in the
spurge and milkweed families have evolved stem succulence in the Old World, and look remarkably like
New World cacti. Few stem succulents can survive hard freezes because of the tissue damage produced
by ice crystal formation, but there are species of prickly pear that occur in Wisconsin. Their shriveled
appearance in the winter suggests that they avoid damage by drying out as winter approaches.
3. Leaf Succulents
Many plant families include species with succulent leaves that are modified for water storage. Such
plants occur, of course, in dry climates, but they also are common in habitats like ocean beaches, where
high concentrations of dissolved salts lower the soil water potential so much that plant water uptake can
occur only when the soil water is diluted after a rainstorm.
Both stem-succulent and leaf-succulent species typically have a Crassulacean acid metabolism
(CAM), which is a modified type of photosynthesis that works as follows:
 Unlike normal plants, their stomates open at night.
 Carbon dioxide is chemically captured and temporarily stored in the form of organic acids.
 In the daytime, the stomates close and water is conserved.
 Photosynthesis still can proceed using carbon dioxide released from the accumulated acids.
Answer Q37 on the answer sheet.
Well, here's an answer:
The capacity of a leaf for accumulation of organic acids puts an upper limit on growth rate. Under
favorable moisture conditions, plants with normal daytime gas exchange simply grow faster than plants
operating by CAM. Answer Q38 on the answer sheet.
4. Root Succulents
Some plants face drought problems despite living in apparently moist environments. For example,
epiphytes, which are plants which grow on other plants, may develop water stress even in very moist air
simply because they are not rooted in soil. Because of this, epiphytes are typically more abundant in
humid environments. They are also likely to be either stem succulents, leaf succulents, or store water in
their roots.
Plants that grow in especially droughty soils in otherwise adequate moisture environments, like
asparagus, may also have succulent roots. Succulent root species like spider plants and asparagus ferns
are good houseplants for people who forget to water.
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5. Sclerophylly
Plants that grow in dry environments where replacement of drought-deciduous leaves would be slow
because of low growing season temperatures, often have small evergreen leaves with especially well-
developed epidermis and cuticle. Conifer needles are a common example. Broad-leaf plants can also be
sclerophyllous. Native broad-leaf sclerophylls include partridgeberry and wintergreen in pine and oak
woods; and cranberries, bog rosemary, bog laurel, and Labrador tea in bogs.
Drought in a bog? In the spring, open bogs have high evaporation stress on the shoots of plants
combined with low moisture availability resulting from cold or even frozen soils. Even in the summer, the
waterlogged soils of bogs are oxygen deficient, so plant root growth is poor, and water uptake may be
inefficient.
6. Malakophylly
A less conspicuous, but very common modification for dry environments is possession of small, soft
leaves, which respond to drying out by developing high solute concentrations and very low water
potentials. Such plants can take up soil moisture that is unavailable to normal plants. It is very typical for
such plants to essentially "abandon" their oldest leaves in times of drought. Before a leaf is shed,
valuable materials are translocated to areas of new growth. Examples include the sagebrush and other
small shrubs in the arid west. Even in Wisconsin, a plant like goldenrod drops its lower leaves as new
ones are added above. Many malakophyllous species are members of the aster family. Answer Q39 on
the answer sheet.
7. Leaf Rolling
Grasses often respond to drought either by rolling or folding their leaves in such a way that the stomate-
rich surface is protected from the evaporating influences of dry air. When moister conditions return, the
leaf will unroll or unfold. Special large bulliform cells ("bubble-form") seem to be involved in such shape
changes, either directly by enlarging or shrinking, or by acting as water reservoirs that influence the
enlarging or shrinking of more ordinary neighboring cells. Locate the bulliform cells on the slide of a
xerophytic leaf. Generally compare their numbers with ordinary epidermis cells.
8. Fenestration
Some plants have their photosynthetic cells deep inside the leaf, with transparent "windows" which allow
light to penetrate into the interior of the leaf. The most extreme modifications occur in a few species in
which the leaf is actually located below the soil surface, with only the "window" exposed to light.
9. High Albedo
Since a warm leaf tends to lose more moisture than a cool leaf, it is not surprising to find that plants of
dry, exposed places are often very light in color and have a high albedo (albedo—proportion of light
reflected). Such plants reflect much of the light that would otherwise heat them up. Obviously, their high
reflectivity results in less energy available for photosynthesis. Native species with this adaptation include
pearly everlasting, pussytoes, and wormwood. The sagebrushes of the west, and some of the succulents
on display are other examples. Note that plants of especially favorable moisture sites, such the forest
understory and even aquatic environments, are often deep green.
10. Leaf Hairs
Leaf hairs (trichomes) may have many functions, including protection from insects. What is relevant to
this lab is that leaf hairs reduce water loss. Why?
 Evaporation from open stomates is inversely proportional to the distance between the moist
air inside the leaf and the drier air outside. The longer the distance, the slower the diffusion of
water out of the leaf.
 If a leaf surface is smooth and hairless, dry air can sweep close to the surface and carry off
water vapor but if the leaf surface is hairy, there is little air movement near the leaf.
 The result is a build-up of water vapor in the still air just outside the stomates.
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 That lengthens the effective distance from the humid inside to the dry outside.
Since the distance from inside a leaf to outside is very short to begin with, a layer of hairs can reduce
water loss a lot
Answer Q40 on the answer sheet.
11. Sunken Stomates
The sunken stomates of the pine leaf, and in many other drought-adapted leaves have an effect
comparable to leaf hairs, because of the increase in diffusing distance for the water vapor. On
demonstration is a cross-section of a resistant leaf in which the sunken stomates are further protected
from rapid water loss by hairs in the stomatal crypts (sunken areas that contain the stomates).
G. Water Movement in Soil
Work in groups of four (table ends). After the experiment discard both soil and water into the
container provided.
Water moves through soil after a rain or flood by flowing downward through the spaces. The entry of
water into the soil is known as infiltration and its movement downwards is known as percolation.
Coarse soil particles (sand) don't pack very tightly and so water infiltrates quickly. Fine soil particles
(clay) pack together tightly. The spaces are small and the infiltration is slow.
1. Infiltration Exercise.
Set up 2 containers with 2 cm of dry material packed into the bottom:
1. Sand (representing most of Portage County)
2. Clay (representing Lake Superior clay soils)
Gently pour 1 cc of water over each "soil". Time the complete infiltration to the point where liquid water is
no longer available. Keep the sand sample for exercise 2.
If the spaces are small, and they are in all but the coarsest soils (sand), water can also move slowly
sideways and even up by capillary movement. This movement, a kind of imbibition, occurs because of
a physical affinity between the soil material and water. That attraction is one factor that influences the
water potential of a soil. Adsorption is the term applied to one kind of substance sticking to another. In
soils, as in plants, water moves from high water potential to low water potential.
2. Capillary Movement Exercise
Use the sand from the previous exercise.
1. Add a little more water to the container with sand until there is liquid water on the surface.
Carefully decant the extra water from the top of the sand. Note: Please don't pour water from
the soil exercise into the sink or pretty soon we'll have blocked drains. Use the container
provided.
2. Repeat a few times until no more liquid water can be seen on the surface.
3. Carefully sprinkle an even ½ cm of dry garden soil over the surface.
4. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
5. Carefully excavate a miniature soil pit and visually look for signs of capillary movement up from
the wet sand into the dry soil.
H. Soil Moisture Capacity
Fine textured soils have small particles, pack closely together, and have lots of water-attracting surface
per given volume of soil. Sandy soils (coarse textured) have big particles, big spaces, and less surface
area. The result is that fine textured soils, once wet, hold more water longer between rains.
 15

Our sandy soils in Portage County can be dry enough to wilt crops in less than a week after the last
soaking rain. That accounts for the prevalence of circle irrigation systems. Soils in many parts of the
state hold water much better, and irrigation is rarely needed. Organic material in a soil can have a
sponge-like effect that increases the water-holding capacity.
1. Demonstration
Equal volumes of dry (1) sand, (2) loam, (3) clay, and (4) very organic soils were placed in the funnels,
and equal amounts of water were added to each.
Note how much water has been retained by the soil and how much has percolated down into the
graduated cylinders. Record your observations in the table at Q41 on the answer sheet. This simple
demonstration is analogous to what happens to water in the soil just after a rain. The water potential of a
soil after this gravity water has drained away is referred to as the soil's field capacity. The water
potential at field capacity is estimated to be between -.001 to -.035 MPa depending on where you go to
church.
I. Physiological Drought
The fertilizer minerals that plants take up from the soil must be in solution before they can be absorbed.
If the concentration is too high, however, the soil water potential will be lowered so much that the plant
will be unable to take up water for lack of the water potential gradient necessary for transpiration. In such
cases, the plant suffers from true water deficiency even when the soil is clearly not dry.
Both over-fertilization and natural salinity can cause physiological drought. When making transplants, it is
wise to avoid adding fertilizer until the root system has been reestablished in the new soil.
The small sunflowers on demonstration have been transferred from their growth medium to salt solutions
of varying water potential. Record the condition of the plants in table Q42 on the answer sheet.
The soil water potential popularly associated with the permanent wilting of crop plants is -1.5 MPa.
Complete Q43 on the answer sheet.
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KEY WORDS
Kinetic Theory sunken stomate
gas stomatal crypt
liquid infiltration
solid percolation
diffusion sand
solute clay
solvent capillary movement
differentially permeable membrane adsorption
osmosis field capacity
turgidity (turgor pressure) physiological drought
wilting
plasmolysis
water potential
solute potential
megapascal (MPa)
imbibition
osmometer
transpiration
guttation
hydathode
stele
cavitation
drought-deciduous
stem succulent
leaf succulent
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)
root succulent
sclerophylly
malakophylly
leaf rolling
bulliform cell
fenestration
albedo
leaf hair (trichome)
 Answer Sheet, Laboratory 20
Q1. Atomic weights:
H hydrogen 1
N nitrogen 12
Cl chlorine 35.5

Molecular weight of NH3, ammonia (sum the atomic weights).

Molecular weight of HCl, hydrogen chloride.

Draw a line at the position where you predict the smoke will develop:

Q2.
Time until ring formed, in minutes
Distance traveled by NH3
Distance traveled by HCl
Diffusion rate of NH3 in cm/min?
Diffusion rate of HCl in cm/min?
Q3. Why does one substance diffuse faster than the other?

Q4.
Starting time.
Initial size of zone of mixing, mm.
Ending time.
Final size of zone of mixing, mm.
Time span of experiment.
Distance of diffusion (final size - initial size) / 2
Rate of diffusion in mm / hour
 Q5. Explain in terms of diffusion why the pink color spreads both up and down?

Q6.
How many times faster is the diffusion of gases than the diffusion of liquids? Be sure to
correct for the difference in units when you do your calculations. Try to explain the dramatic
difference:

Q7. Quantify the water concentration with your count of triangles in the 2 X 5 area. Enter your data
into the spreadsheet in the classroom computer:
Outside cell (count of triangles in 2 X 5 cm area).
Inside cell.
Q8. Predict the direction of water movement and explain briefly why the net movement will be in that
direction:

Q9. Quantify the water concentration in the cell after osmosis has reached a balance.
Inside cell after osmosis.
Compare this value with the condition before osmosis.
Q10. What is the direct consequence to the cell of this water movement? There's a clue in the
introduction if you need it.
Q11. Osmotic Water Transfer
Time
Treatment Distance Rate, cm/hour
Start End
Room Temp
0C
55 C
Q12. What is the effect of temperature on the movement of water?

Q13. How is soil temperature likely to influence water movement into a root?

Q14. What do you predict would happen if we sealed the upper end of the tube?

Q15. Explain when water movement into a turgid cell stop. Think in terms of everything which
influences water movement. Of course, this relates to the osmosis simulation you did previously.
Q16. Sucrose gradient results:

Concentration Water Potential Float or Sink? Crisp or Limp

0.0 M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

x.x M x.x MPa

Q17. Do you think the results match expectations? Briefly tell why or why not.

Q18. Explain the changes in the celery in terms of water potential.

Q19. Sketch a cell from each treatment labeling the cell wall and the cytoplasm:
Wet Mount, Water Wet Mount, Salt solution

Q20. Explain the results in terms of water potential.

Q21. Note which block is larger and explain why.

Q22. This is not an example of osmosis. Why not?

Q23.
Location Water Potential
soil
root cells
leaf cells
air
Q24. What is the difference between the soil water potential and the air in MPa?

Q25. How much force is that in pounds per square inch? [Multiply the difference by 147]

Q26. In theory, how high could the difference in Q25 lift water? [A 1 square inch water column
weighs .433 pounds per foot, so divide the pounds per square inch by .433].

Q27. Diameter of cell using any consistent units, such as micrometer intervals:
pine

oak

Q28. Which cells have the larger cross sectional area?

Q29. How much larger (half again, two times, three times, etc.)?

Q30. Does this support the relationship between water column diameter and lifting force discussed
above? If so, how? If not, why not?

Q31. Temperatures on and around a “Sunlit” Leaf.

Location Temperature Water Potential Drying Effect
 (rank from 1=highest (rank from 1=highest
to 5=lowest) to 5=lowest)
Upper leaf
surface
(Probe 1)
Air just above
upper surface
(Probe 2)
Lower leaf
surface
(Probe 3)
Air just below
lower surface
(Probe 4)
Control (room
air away from
lamp) (Probe 5)

Q32. Do the leaf temperatures observed here help explain the stomate differences observed in the
previous lab? Explain why or why not.

Q33. What is the water potential of the air under the bell jar?

Q34. How does the transpiration under the bell jar compare with room air?
Q35. Transpiration Estimation with Cobalt Chloride Disks.
Plant Species Surface Time for Color Change, Minutes
Upper
Lower

Q36. What problem would develop in overwintering plant tissues if the water in the soil or in the
xylem were frozen, but leaves were still present and losing water to the winter air?

Q37. Speculate about why many plant species don't show this water-conserving type of
photosynthesis even though they sometimes suffer from dryness.

Q38. Would you expect the leaf sap of a CAM species to have a higher pH at sunset or at sunrise?

Q39. Dandelions are in the composite family. Are they malakophyllous?

Q40. What effect do you think leaf hairs have on the diffusion of the carbon dioxide into a leaf that a
plant requires for photosynthesis?
Q41. Soil Moisture Capacity.
Water Water in Water Retained
Added, ml Cylinder, ml by Soil, ml
Sand
Loam
Clay
Organic

Q42. Physiological Drought.

CaCl2 Solution Water Water Loss Plant
(M) Potential (MPa) Detectable? Appearance
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.05
0.10
0.20
Q43. At what solute potential did the first serious wilting of the sunflowers occur?
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