osmosis

(noun)

The net movement of solvent molecules from a region of high solvent potential to a region of lower solvent potential through a partially permeable membrane

Related Terms

Examples of osmosis in the following topics:

  • Osmosis

    • Osmosis is the movement of water across a membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration.
    • While diffusion transports materials across membranes and within cells, osmosis transports only water across a membrane.
    • Osmosis is a special case of diffusion.
    • In osmosis, water always moves from an area of higher water concentration to one of lower concentration.
    • Describe the process of osmosis and explain how concentration gradient affects osmosis

  • The Role of Passive Transport

    • Passive transport, such as diffusion and osmosis, moves materials of small molecular weight across membranes.
    • The passive forms of transport, diffusion and osmosis, move materials of small molecular weight across membranes.

  • The Plasma Membrane and the Cytoplasm

    • Water passes through the membrane in a diffusion process called osmosis.
    • Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane down its concentration gradient.
    • Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane down its concentration gradient.

  • Tonicity

    • Tonicity, which is directly related to the osmolarity of a solution, affects osmosis by determining the direction of water flow.
    • Tonicity describes how an extracellular solution can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis.

  • Osmoregulation

    • Osmoregulation is the process by which living things regulate the effects of osmosis in order to protect cellular integrity.
    • Various living things have ways of controlling the effects of osmosis—a mechanism called osmoregulation.
    • Describe the methods by which organisms regulate the effects of osmosis on their cells

  • Contractile Vacuoles in Microorganisms

    • Under these conditions, water flows from the environment into the cell by osmosis.
    • In Paramecium, which, presumably, has the most-complex and highly-evolved CV, the vacuole is surrounded by several canals, which absorb water by osmosis from the cytoplasm.

  • Temperature and Water

    • Freshwater organisms, surrounded by water, are constantly in danger of having water rush into their cells because of osmosis.
    • Marine organisms are surrounded by water with a higher solute concentration than the organism and, thus, are in danger of losing water to the environment because of osmosis.

  • Transportation of Photosynthates in the Phloem

    • The high percentage of sugar decreases Ψs, which decreases the total water potential, causing water to move by osmosis from the adjacent xylem into the phloem tubes.
    • Water diffuses from the phloem by osmosis and is then transpired or recycled via the xylem back into the phloem sap .

  • Pressure, Gravity, and Matric Potential

    • A plant can manipulate Ψp via its ability to manipulate Ψs (solute potential) and by the process of osmosis.

  • Components of Plasma Membranes

    • Passive osmosis and diffusion: transports gases (such as O2 and CO2) and other small molecules and ions