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A-LevelBiologyCell membranes and transportMay/June 2025Paper 3 Q122 Marks

When plant tissue is placed into a solution of sodium chloride, water moves between the sodium chloride solution and the cells in the plant tissue. You will investigate the effect of surface area of plant tissue on the movement of water between a sodium chloride solution and the cells in a sample of plant tissue. You are provided with the materials shown in Table 1.1. Table 1.1 labelled contents hazard volume/cm³ P 5 cylinders of plant tissue in distilled water none - S 2.0 mol dm⁻³ sodium chloride solution none 200 It is recommended that you wear suitable eye protection. You will need to: • cut cylinders of plant tissue into different lengths • soak different lengths of plant tissue in sodium chloride solution for 20 minutes • measure the final length of the plant tissue. Carry out step 1 to step 12. step 1 Using the forceps, put the cylinders of plant tissue onto the white tile. step 2 Cut each cylinder of plant tissue to 40 mm length. The cylinders of plant tissue all have the same diameter, as shown in [Figure 1.1]. The radius is calculated by dividing the diameter by 2. diameter [Figure 1.1] To investigate the effect of surface area, you will use one whole cylinder of plant tissue and cut the other cylinders into a different number of pieces. step 3 Label five beakers with the number of pieces of plant tissue (n) as shown in Table 1.2. Table 1.2 beaker labelled number of pieces of plant tissue (n) length (h) of each small piece/mm 1 1 40 2 2 20 4 4 10 8 8 5 16 16 2.5 step 4 Put one whole cylinder of plant tissue into the beaker labelled 1. step 5 Cut each of the other four cylinders of plant tissue into the number of pieces shown in Table 1.2 and put them into the appropriately labelled beaker. In step 6 you will use a syringe to measure the volume of sodium chloride solution, S, you will put into each beaker. step 6 Put the volume of S you stated in (a)(ii) into each of the beakers. step 7 Start timing and wait for 20 minutes. Use this time to continue with other parts of Question 1. [Figure 1.2] shows an example of how to calculate the total surface area of plant tissue placed in each beaker. EXAMPLE: a cylinder with a length of 40 mm diameter length, h = 40 mm surface area of cylinder = 2πr² + 2πr h = (2 x 3.14 x r²) + (2 x 3.14 × r × 40) where: π = 3.14 r = radius of cylinder = diameter ÷ 2 h = height or length of cylinder The total surface area depends on the number of pieces, n. Total surface area = surface area of one cylinder × number of pieces = (2πr² + 2πrh)n [Figure 1.2] step 8 After the 20 minutes (step 7), pour the sodium chloride solution from around the cylinder of plant tissue in beaker 1 into the container labelled For waste. Put the plant tissue onto the white tile. step 9 Measure the length of the cylinder of plant tissue. Record this length in (a)(v). step 10 Repeat step 8 for beaker 2. step 11 Place the cylinders of plant tissue end-to-end so that they are touching. Measure their total length, as shown in [Figure 1.3]. Record this length in (a)(v). total length [Figure 1.3] step 12 Repeat step 10 and step 11 using the plant tissue in beaker 4, beaker 8 and beaker 16. A student investigated the effect of different concentrations of sodium chloride solution on red blood cells. The student: • counted the number of whole red blood cells in six samples of blood • put each sample into a different concentration of sodium chloride solution for 10 minutes • counted the number of whole red blood cells remaining in each concentration • calculated the number of red blood cells remaining as a percentage of the number of red blood cells in each sample at the start. The results are shown in Table 1.4. Table 1.4 percentage concentration percentage number of whole of sodium chloride red blood cells remaining 0.00 0.0 0.40 3.0 0.50 10.0 0.65 46.0 0.80 96.0 0.90 100.0

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About This A-Level Biology Question

This structured question appeared in the Cambridge A-Level Biology (9700) May/June 2025 examination, Paper 3 Variant 3. It tests the topic of Cell membranes and transport and is worth 22 marks.

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