What is diffusion?
Diffusion is a process involving passive transport of particles from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration.
What is osmosis?
Osmosis is a process involving the passive transport of solvent particles from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. A main difference between diffusion and osmosis is that only solvent particles may pass through a membrane during osmosis, while solute and/or solvent particles may pass through a membrane during diffusion.
What is a plasma membrane?
The plasma membrane of a cell is like the cell membrane; however, a cell membrane encapsulates all parts of the cell while the plasma membrane only contains the organelles of the cell.
What is plasmolysis?
Plasmolysis is the process when a plant cell loses water out of the cell and the plasma membrane shrinks and pulls away from the cell wall. Placing a plant cell in a hypertonic solution causes this effect. When a cell reaches a certain point of plasmolysis, the cell is damaged beyond repair and results in the death of the cell.
What is a solute?
A solute is a substance dissolved in another substance forming a solution. The solute is usually present in a smaller quantity than the solvent.
What is a solvent?
A solvent is the substance that acts to dissolve the solute, forming a solution. The solvent is usually present in a larger quantity than the solute.
A solvent is the substance that acts to dissolve the solute, forming a solution. The solvent is usually present in a larger quantity than the solute.
A solvent is the substance that acts to dissolve the solute, forming a solution. The solvent is usually present in a larger quantity than the solute.
How is the concentration of a solution measured?
The concentration of a solution is measured using a variety of units. Most common are percent by mass, percent by volume, and molarity. Molarity is defined as the number of moles of solute divided by the volume of the solution measured in liters.
What is a semipermeable membrane?
A semipermeable membrane is a membrane that only allows particles of a certain size or charge to pass through the membrane. Other particles are prevented from passing through the membrane.
What is the function of a cell membrane?
The membrane of a cell allows specific substances to enter and/or exit the cell.
What is equilibrium?
Equilibrium is a system state when the rate of the forward chemical reaction is equal to the rate of the reverse chemical reaction.
What is sodium chloride?
Sodium chloride is an ionic salt consisting of one atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine per formula unit. Sodium chloride is commonly called table salt.
What is potassium chloride?
Potassium chloride is an ionic salt consisting of one atom of potassium and one atom of chlorine per formula unit. Potassium chloride is commonly blended with sodium chloride and sold commercially as light table salt.
What is a hypertonic solution?
A hypertonic solution contains a higher concentration of solutes as compared to another solution.
What is a hypotonic solution?
A hypotonic solution contains a lower concentration of solutes as compared to another solution.
What is an isotonic solution?
A isotonic solution contains the same concentration of solutes as another solution.
What is the iso-osmotic point?
The iso-osmotic point is reached when the solute concentration inside and outside of a semipermeable membrane are equal. This point is reached when 50% of cells have plasmolyzed and 50% of cells remain in their normal state.
All processes that involve osmosis are examples of diffusion, but not all examples of diffusion are osmosis. Confused? Get started now investigating the osmotic process in red onion cells.
