Advances in Physiology Education, Vol 261, Issue 6 17-S19, Copyright © 1991 by American Physiological Society
Osmotic properties of cells: a computer laboratory
H. G. Hempling
Department of Physiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425.
A computer laboratory has been designed to teach the osmotic properties of
cells. One program, CELL.BA, is for the teacher to enter values for the
volume of cell water and osmotically inactive material, the concentration
of impermeant solute in the cell, and the permeability of the plasma
membrane to water and a nonelectrolyte. When the program is protected,
students use it as a cell with unknown osmotic properties. They run
experiments on the computer with different concentrations of impermeant or
permeant solutes or combinations of the two. Changes in cell volume or
solute concentration are collected as data and analyzed with the program,
PERMEABILITY LAB.BA. This program provides a parameter list, and students
try to fit the data that are graphed on the screen by choosing values for
the unknown cell parameters and generating model curves. Programs are
written for the Macintosh computer.
