1.3.7

Osmosis

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Osmosis

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a partially permeable membrane from a dilute solution (high concentration of water/high water potential) to a concentrated solution (low concentration of water/low water potential).

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Partially permeable membrane

  • A partially permeable membrane allows water through, but won't let larger molecules dissolved in water pass through.
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Water movement

  • Water will move to make the concentrations the same on both sides of the membrane:
    • When there are lots of water molecules (in a dilute solution) on one side of a partially permeable membrane, but not many on the other side (in a concentrated solution), water will move from the dilute to the concentrated solution.
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Net movement of water

  • It is important to remember that water molecules will move through the membrane in both directions, but the net (overall) movement of water will be from the dilute solution to a concentrated solution.

Jump to other topics

1Cell Biology

1.1What's in Cells?

1.2Cell Division

1.3Transport in Cells

2Organisation

2.1Principles of Organisation

2.2Enzymes

2.3Circulatory System

2.4Non-Communicable Diseases

2.5Plant Tissues, Organs & Systems

3Infection & Response

4Bioenergetics

5Homeostasis & Response

5.1Homeostasis

5.2The Human Nervous System

5.3Hormonal Coordination in Humans

5.4Plant Hormones

6Inheritance, Variation & Evolution

7Ecology

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