Title:
Osmosis: Permeable to Solute, Impermeable to Solute
Source:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/9834092339/student_view0/chapter5/osmosis.html
Date Added:
6/10/2022, 8:36:28 AM
Date Modified:
4/26/2023, 9:28:17 PM
Original Description:
Why does the concentration of a solute cause the movement of water through osmosis? Water is unusual in that it can cross a non-polar membrane but also react and form solutions with ions and polar molecules that cannot cross the same membrane. When water molecules react with a solute they are no longer free to cross the membrane. The more solute, the fewer molecules left that are free to diffuse across the membrane. Therefore a highly concentrated solution (one with lots of solute) has a low effective concentration of water. Therefore water will tend to diffuse across a membrane from areas of low solute concentration to areas of high solute concentration – until the concentration of the solution is equal on both sides. This is only true if the solute cannot cross the membrane.
ID:
65e799c9-562d-4dd0-80f7-c7e9aff50ee9