Apologia General Science Experiment 10.4 Turgor Pressure

Apologia General Science Experiment 10.4 

Turgor Pressure

This was another experiment we have done before, most often with Queen Anne's Lace (weed/flower), but we were happy to do it again.  First the glass of water, add food coloring, then add a plant that would show the veins change as they absorb the colored water.

Turgor Pressure: The Pressure inside a plant cell due to the increasing size of the central vacuole.  

 Plant cells are usually the shape of a square (unlike animal cells).  A plant cell has a membrane around it, and a cell wall srrounding the outside of the membrane.  The cell wall is a stiff or rigid structure that has holes in it.  These holes are important because they allow nutrients  to pass through so they can travel to and from the membrane.  In the center of the cell is an organelle called the central vacuole--which is like a water balloon that increases with size as it fills with water.  The added water will push the organelles and dytoplasm in the cell against the cell wall.  The cell wall will push back against this force, and that explands the central vacuole.  This pushing back and forth causes the cell to become rigid or stiff.  When water is in decline the plant wilts and bends.

It would have been nice to show the leaves of the celery plant after the week, as they were really beautiful with their blue-purple lines were they had absorbed the dye, but it was a busy week!

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