No, the ascent of sap is not possible without the cohesive and adhesive properties of water as they play an important role in transport of water because of the following reasons
(i) Cohesion forces hold together the water molecule in the conducting channels, so vacuum is not created.
(ii) Adhesive forces between the water molecule and cellulose of cell wall make a thin film of water along the channels so, this film can be pulled up by transpiration pull drawing more and more water upwards in the conducting channels from the root.
When a freshly collected Spirogyra filament is kept in a $10 \%$ potassium nitrate solution, it is observed that the protoplasm shrinks in size
(a) What is this phenomenon called?
(b) What will happen if the filament is replaced in distilled water?
(a) Plasmolysis is the name of the phenomenon, occurring is Spirogyra filament when placed in 10\% potassium nitrate solution (hypertonic solution). It occurs as water from the cell is drown out to extracellular fluid causing the protoplast to shrink away from cell wall.
(b) When the Spirogyra again reabsorb water, protoplast will again and will come back in its original shape. This phenomenon is known as deplasmolysis.