Saturday, September 17, 2016

The level of the solution in the hollow at the top of the potato rose. Use your knowledge of water potential to explain why.

Water potential is a ratio, a comparison of water per unit volume in relation to pure water.  When water is in a solution, as is the case in living cells, like those of a potato, its potential takes on a negative quality.  If I am reading this question correctly, a hollow spot in the potato experiences a rise in solution level.  The hollow would be a lower concentration of water, so even the lowered potential of water in solution would enter the hollow.  The tendency is for an area of high water potential to flow to an area of low water potential.  So it would make sense to expect to see the hollow collect solution from the cells of the potato, where the water potential is higher.  This is the governing principle behind osmosis, which is diffusion of water from an area of high water concentration to an area of lower water concentration.  It also determines capillary action, water's tendency to move within the structure of plants vascular systems.

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